Sports Personality of the Year 2011

Usually on BeeTeeSports, I mainly cover football stories, because that's my main interest. But for tonight, we shall be looking at the Sports Personality awards for 2011 (just to clear up confusion, this has nothing to do with a sportsman’s personality, it's how well they've done throughout the calendar year in their own respective sports). No footballers are on the shortlist this year, which suggests that we tend to be better in other sporting activities (which is of course, true). Among the nominees are two cricketers, three golfers, two runners, a boxer, a tennis player and a cyclist. It will be quite a long read if I was to analyse the achievements of each individual athlete, so I will discuss my top three candidates for this year...

3RD: Mo Farah

Farah started the year in spectacular fashion. Before April, he had already managed to smash the record for the 5000m indoor record in a time of 13:10.60, win gold at the 3000m indoor championships and also come first in the New York half-marathon (in a very respectable time of 1:00:23). All of these achievements were probably helped by his move to the United States in February to join up with trainer Alberto Salazar. During June/July, he broke British records in the Diamond League meetings at Monaco and Oregon. By the time of the World Athletic Championships, the Somalian-born athlete was full of confidence and showed to the world how good he was by winning silver in the 10,000m and gold in the 5000m (his less favoured event of the two) to top off a good year for the long distance runner.

2ND: Mark Cavendish

Cavendish had a rather slow start to the season, not winning a race until Stage 6 of the Tour of Oman in late February. However, he will be most remembered this year for his tremendous success during the Tour de France. He won five stages of the tour to finish top of the Points Classification tables, despite having points docked off during stages 18 and 19. He finished with a total of 334 points, the highest amount scored since Erik Zabel won in 1997. Mark also became the first British cyclist to top the points table. Other notable achievements during the calendar year include winning the UCI Road World Championships for Great Britain and Grote Scheldeprijs, as well as receiving an MBE as recognition of his accomplishments  

1ST: Luke Donald

The newly crowned world number one certainly had his triumphs throughout the calendar year. He won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, beating the then world number one Martin Kaymer 3&2 in the final round. He also managed to pick up one more PGA Tour win and two more European tour wins, which helped him to becoming the first player ever to top the PGA Tour and European Tour money lists in the same year (earning about £7.8m overall). Donald enjoyed success in the Masters, finishing tied in the top four, which was his highest finish in a major during the year. Although a major victory still eludes Donald, his current form suggests that he will most definitely win one during 2012...

The ceremony kicks off at 8pm on BBC1, and if you have faith in BeeTeeSports, you might want to put a lucky wager on Luke Donald to win.

Can Spurs be serious title contenders?

Tottenham Hotspur went into Sunday's game against Stoke on the back of one of their best starts ever to a Premier League season. They had won their last six league games, holding an unbeaten run that stretched from the end of August. Spurs sit fourth in the table, only seven points behind leaders Manchester City. This impeccable attitude has certainly showed that Harry Redknapp's side can go toe-to-toe with the big boys of the league, but do they have what it takes to finish top of the pile come May?

This season, Spurs' squad seems to be the strongest it has ever been in recent years. Their midfield is possibly the best in the country; Lennon and Bale on the wings, Parker and Modric in the centre with Van Der Vaart playing in the CAM position. Between them, they have netted a total of 18 goals in all competitions. Aaron Lennon has the blistering pace that has seen him score incredible solo goals in recent weeks whilst Bale is also good with his movement and crossing. Scott Parker, former PFA players player of the year, and £40m valued Luka Modric have the ability to control the game with such ease. Whilst VDV is always a goal scoring threat and can provide the passes for the striker up front or even joining the attack as a second attacker.

It is also evident that they have depth in striking roles. Adebayor currently has the edge over his closest rivals, but they would easily be able to fill his boots if needed. Jermaine Defoe is a pacy striker who is able to cause some trouble to any defence that he comes into contact with, whilst Pavlychenko is a well-established international striker for his home country of Russia. Depending on what team they are facing, each player has his strengths that will accommodate for their style of play.

In addition, there is the manager. Harry Redknapp is one of the most experienced managers in the league, who has successfully taken Spurs from relegation candidates to Champions League quarter finalist in three years, so who knows what he is capable of during this season. Redknapp is also a wise spender in the transfer market, one of his best signings being Rafael Van Der Vaart (a Real Madrid, Dutch international) for a measly £8 million. During the January transfer market, he is quoted saying that he will make a "big signing" for the north London club, so that can only be good news for their title hopes.

Finally, unlike the other league contenders (namely Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea) Tottenham do not need to face the exhausting prospect of European football in the coming weeks and months, after being knocked out of the competition a few hours ago. The Manchester clubs will be playing their trade in the Europa League (Thursday nights, channel five if you need reminding) whilst the Blues are still in the hunt for that elusive Champions League trophy. Spurs' players will be much more rested when it comes to decisive games, so maybe their Europe exit was a blessing in disguise.

In conclusion, it will be tough for the north Londoners to try and fight their way to lead the table until the end of the season, but something tells me that they will be able to give it a good go, as long as they are able to bounce back quickly from that stoking on Sunday (which in their defence, they should have won).

United they stood, United they fell (FC Basel 2-1 Manchester United)

Manchester United only needed a point to advance to the next stage of the Champions League, and only Swiss champions FC Basel stood in the way of an inevitable advance to the last 16. But as we know, football is such an unpredictable game...

The pressure was certainly on the United team. Although they may be much stronger than the Heiko Vogel's side, the Swiss champions had the fantastic home support that saw them win seven out of their last eight matches at St. Jakob Park. But from the early signs, it certainly seemed that Man United were not playing for the point they needed to get through, but for all three! Dominating possession in the opening minutes with solid build-up play, Park managed to turn a defender on the edge of the box and execute a curling shot, flying over the both. Basel weren't going to be frightened though, managing to break into the United half and have a few crosses that left De Gea scrambling. But on the eight minute mark, they did a bit more then trouble him. A cross flew into the box, Smalling went down under a challenge and the ball eventually arrived on the opposite wing to Shaqiri, whose low ball deflected off of the young United goalie's leg and into the path of Marco Strellar, who volleyed emphatically into the net. This was the Basel striker's fourth goal in consecutive games, and certainly his most important one, his team had the upper hand.

Man United responded, attacking the home end and winning two corners in quick succession, but unfortunately they both evaded all who dwelled within the Basel box. They continued in similar fashion to how they started the game, maintaining a majority of the possession and looking to find an equaliser. They were now allowing their full backs to join the attacking surge, with Chris Smalling breaking down the wing to deliver a searching ball, but no United player was able to latch onto it and it was saved by the 23-year old Swiss stopper Yann Sommer. Man United missed their best chance of the game on the half hour mark though, Nani hit a low cross into the path of Rooney, who completely, hopelessly misses the ball, and the incoming Park could only bundle into the arms of the goalie.

Another corner came, another corner went. Giggs’ inswinging left footer was met by a defensive clearance and almost allowed Basel to break. It seemed that the more United attack, the more vulnerable they become. A plus side for United was the danger of wingers. Nani was making darting runs onto the wings and making crosses, also having attempts on goal in the process. Giggs was looking to play penetrating balls through the defence, which he did successfully on the 34th minute, resulting in a decent save from Wayne Rooney's effort and this was followed a few minutes later when Young had a tame shot from outside of the box after a United free-kick for handball.

The Red Devil's evening went from bad to worse on the 42nd minute, Vidic and goal-scorer Streller tangled to try and get the ball, with the Basel striker falling awkwardly on the defender, causing a twist in the right leg. He left the pitch on a stretcher and was replaced by fellow centre-back Jonny Evans. Basel then had a rare attacking spell after being on the back foot for the past half an hour, trouble-making winger Shaqiri ran down the wing and took an ambitious shot towards De Gea's goal, but it was saved by the young Spaniard. Both teams went into the break fairly satisfied, Man United certainly dominated the half but were behind. If they didn't score in the upcoming 45 minutes, then their next European game would be in the Europa League.

Sir Alex’s men nearly started the half in the best possible way. The versatile figure of Giggs put another great ball into the path of Rooney, who squared to curl it round the keeper, but it went just wide. Immediately after, the ever-present Nani made another run and shot, only for it to be caught by the welcoming hands of Sommer. Almost replicating the first half, Basel then broke away and crossed into the United box, the ball fell to Shaqiri, who had ample time to get his shot away, but luckily for United, it went over. More chances came and went for Basel, Alexander Frei's free-kick was tipped over well by De Gea (with the resulting corner being cleared away) and Fabian Frei (no relation) had his shot blocked by Smalling Finally, Dragovic had a header caught from the resulting corner. United's grip on the game was slowly slipping away, which would have annoyed Sir Alex and his team.

However, despite Basel getting back into the game, United did have a good spell between the 55th and 60th minute. They won two corners and a throw-in from similar position, which eventually resulted in Basel right-back Steinhöfer hitting a beautiful, pin-point volley against his own bar (I have no idea what he was thinking of). Shots from Rooney, Nani and Rooney again in following moments did nothing to threaten the home side's net as Basel continued to ride their luck.

70 minutes in, Manchester United did have a good chance to try and equalise, but it was missed by the head of Rooney after Nani's well worked cross (it was also offside, so technically it wasn't even a chance). Nevertheless, United were starting to regain the authority the once showed at the beginning of the match, holding onto possession but still failing to find an end product. Basel were now looking to keep the scoreline the way it is, even star winger Shaqiri was getting back to block Rooney's shot. The only half chance they had in the next ten minutes was from Phil Jones' cross, which was collected by Sommer. The Swiss side were doing their best to frustrate the Manchurians, even midfielder Granit Xhaka had a half-hearted attempted from 35 yards out, inevitably going wide. But their next attempt was certainly not wasted. Star player Shaqiri got the ball, took it down to the wing and whipped in with his left foot, the curling cross evaded all players except for Alex Frei who was lurking at the far post, and he dived in to head the ball past the hopeless De Gea; what a massive defensive calamity!

In the last five minutes, there was enough time for United to grab a consolation. Welbeck was free on the edge of the six yard box and hit a powerful shot which was well saved, the ball bounced out to Macheda, whose attempt hit the bar from a close distance and it was up to Phil Jones to head the ball over the line. The defence and goalkeeper really should have dealt with it better, but it done nothing to affect the eventual outcome of the game. Manchester United had been knocked out of the group stages for the first time in six years, and Basel go marching on for a chance to win the Champions League trophy. I would not like to be in the Red Devil dressing room right now...

United: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic (Evans 40), Evra; Nani, Jones, Giggs, Park (Macheda 80), Young (Welbeck 63), Rooney.

Basle: Sommer; Park Joo Ho, Dragovic, Abraham, Steinhofer, Shaqiri, F Frei, Cabral, G Xhaka (Chipperfield 81), Streller, A Frei (Kusunga 86)

BeeTeeSports Man of the Match: Xherdan Shaqiri (8/10)

Who will win the Ballon D'or 2011?

FIFA today announced the shortlist for the Ballon D'or contenders (or for those of you who aren't very nifty with foreign lingo, it is basically the world footballer of the year - the golden ball). Only three candidates make the shortlist, and it was those usual suspects; Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Xavi. So, let's analyse which each candidate has done throughout the calendar year.

Cristiano Ronaldo:

Ronaldo has certainly started this season fantastically well, 17 goals in 14 appearances pretty much says it all (a ratio of 1.2 goals a game) with six assists along the way. Add to that four goals during the Champions’ League group stages, it certainly makes impressive reading. Throughout the year of 2011, he has scored seven goals for his home country and lead them to qualify for the Euro 2012 via the play offs, scoring twice during a 6-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. He ended the season top scorer in La Liga, ahead of arch nemesis Lionel Messi, and also picked up his first piece of silverware with the Copa Del Rey trophy, in which he scored the winning goal against Messi's Barcelona side. Overall, Cristiano has had a marvellous year by the standards of anyone.

Lionel Messi:

The 5'7 Argentinian started the season in the same spectacular fashion as his Spanish challenger, scoring and assisting the exact amount of goals as Cristiano, but playing one game more. During the first cup game of the season (the Spanish Supercup final, the equivalent of the Community Shield) he scored three and assisted two in a 5-4 win against Real Madrid. He then went on to score back to back home hat tricks during the opening weeks of the season. In the first half of the season, he helped Barcelona win the Champions League, scoring and assisting in the final against Manchester United, which proved to be a comfortable victory in the end. Internationally, he has scored four times and assisted ten during the calendar year, in which he made 13 appearances for La Albiceleste.

Xavi:

As you can imagine, Xavi doesn't have the goal-scoring record to match his two rivals, but what he lacks in regular goals, he certainly makes up for in work-rate, passing and general dictating of the game. During 2011, he has helped Barcelona win the Champions League, La Liga, the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Supercup. In January, he became the most capped Barcelona player ever with his 549th appearance against Levente, while also winning his 100th cap for Spain two months later. For Spain, he has made ten appearances, scoring twice, and also eased the Spanish team to Euro 2012 qualification. Last season, he was vital to all of Barca's attacks, and made 1165 passes throughout the entire season, whilst this season, he has chipped in with five assists to help his team, as well as four goals.

However, my pick for the world's best footballer has to go to Lionel Messi. He edges ahead of due to his 2011 silverware and head to head statistics against the Spanish winger. The winner is set to be announced on January 9th 2012, it's going to be a close one!

What does the Euro 2012 draw mean for England?

So, the draw has been completed and all of the 16 finalists now know their upcoming fixtures and possible route to the final. The completed groups are as follows...:



GROUP A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

GROUP B: Holland, Denmark, Germany, Portugal

GROUP C: Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia

GROUP D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England



As we can see, group B is certainly the infamous 'group of death' with any of the teams involved having a chance of qualifying (including Denmark, who overcame Portugal to top their qualifying group). Whilst group C and D certainly seem competitive in some aspects, group A is the weakest of the bunch (if you were to add up the world ranking positions of the four teams, it would be a massive 125, compared to just 22 in group B). But I imagine most of you are more interested about the chances of England in this tournament, so let's focus on their competitors...



UKRAINE:

As the second weakest side in the competition, Ukraine will certainly be up against it with the likes of Sweden, France and of course the English, but it would be foolish to rule them out straight away. The 55th ranked side in the world have enjoyed an unbeaten four-game run since October, including an entertaining 3-3 draw against WC semi-finalists Germany. They will also be playing most of their matches in their home country, which will provide them with the massive support they need to possibly emulate the achievements of Greece back in 2004 (when they were hosts). Participating in their second major tournament of the century, they may struggle due to the lack of experience at this level and due to the fact that they haven't faced the competitiveness of qualify, I predicted a bottom finish for the co-hosts.

SWEDEN:

Erik Hamren’s team are the ones to watch in this group in my opinion. The Swede's certainly gave Holland a run for their money during the qualifying campaign, finishing three points behind the Dutch and beating them 3-2 in the process. England should be wary of the threat from top scorer, Zlatan Ibrahimović, as well as the deadly midfield duo of Larsson and Källström, who scored six goals between them during the qualifying stages. With 21 goals in their last 9, including 5-0 wins over San Marino and Finland, the Scandinavians have proved that they are a goal scoring threat, but have lost the last two friendlies against fellow WC finalists Denmark and England. Nevertheless, I am backing the Swede's to grab the second position to progress to the quarters.


FRANCE:

The French certainly showed their very ugly side in their last major tournament, finishing bottom in the group stages with embarrassing scenes along the way (anyone remember that strike?). But the cheese-eating surrender monkeys have certainly turned over a new leaf since the appointment of former Manchester United defender Laurent Blanc as manager. They managed qualify automatically, although it was a bit of a struggle, finishing just one point ahead of the 23rd seeds Bosnia-Herzegovina. They also haven't been able to find the net as easily as they wanted. Les Bleus scored 15 goals during the qualifying stage, the second lowest total out of the group winners (only Greece [14] had scored less whilst finishing first). However, despite this, France has gone an extraordinary run of 17 games unbeaten, which is fairly impressive for a side that have a very minimal goal threat. I just don't see them qualifying from this group... zut alors!

You can probably guess by this analysis that I fully expect England to qualify from the group stages in first position, and possibly go on to the semis, but I'll post my thoughts closer to the time so that I don't tempt fate...

Rovers Up Against The Rocks (Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers)

For about ten minutes, Shamrock Rovers of the Irish League were leading Tottenham, former Champions League quater finalists. Their defence were a solid foundation against the sublime and quick paced Tottenham attack. But unfortunatley, dreams do not last forever...

Tottenham flew out of the traps against the Irish champions, building up a move straight from kick off, the ball eventually came to Dos Santos, who took it past one Shamrock defender and hit it straight at the keeper. The Mexican international also had another attempt at goal after playing  a precise one-two with Russian counterpart Pavlychenko, only for his shot to be blocked and the resulting corner coming to nothing.
The opening ten minutes saw the Rovers waste their possession. Very often their passes were intercepted by a Spurs player who started a counter attack, which normally resulted in an easy save for Shamrocks stand-in keeper; Richard Brush. Tottenham were playing with a confidence evident in the 4-0 demolition of Liverpool, yet couldn't find the finish.

The first real chance inevertably fell to the home side. Dos Santos recieved the ball from midfield in virtually empty space before playing the ball through to Defoe, whose shot was well saved by Brush as he knocked it onto the crossbar. He was then in action again few minutes later, Lennon made a quick run into the box and passed it to Pavlychenko, who beat his man before having his effort brilliantly saved by the Irish goalkeeper. Rose, Walker and Lennon were causing the defence massive problems throughout the opening 20 minutes by beating their opposing full backs easily before making a pass into the box.
More shots fired in towards the Shamrock goal throughout the first half, giving the effect of rain hitting an umbrella. Dos Santos had one blocked, Kyle Walker hit the bar and Pavlychenko had his effort cleared off the line as Spurs headed into half time unable to break the deadlock, the roars of the 1000 strong Irish crowd still ringing in their ears...

The second half began without the same pace as most of the 45 minutes, but that all changed on the 49 minute mark. Shamrock had a free kick from about 20 yards, which was well palmed away by Cudicini. The ball came out to McCabe, who drilled a shot towards the Spurs net, but it took a defletion off the Rovers holding midfielder Rice, and it bounced agonisingly passed Cudicini into the opposite corner. 1-0
Shamrock now look a completely different side from the one that got battered in the opening 45 minutes, breaking with regularity and spending more time in the opposition half whilst still being defensively strong from the threat of Tottenham's wingers and full backs.

However, their defence were not going to last such an onslaught for much longer. Half time substitute Townsend took the ball on the wing and ran past the Shamrock full back, before delivering a fanatastic ball to the unmarked Pavlychenko to head down into the bottom left corner. 1-1!
Two minutes later and it was like deja vu. Townsend beat his marker again to hit a swinging ball into the path of Jermaine Defoe, again in open space, to nod another past the helpless Brush. 2-1!
And just as you thought it couldn't get any worse for the Irish champions... it did! Defoe then picked up the ball from well inside his own half and ran virtually unchallenged past a bunch of Shamrock players, getting to a space just outside the 20 yard box and passing down to Dos Santos, who took a bad touch but still managed to finish sublimely into the roof of the net. 3-1! and what a nightmare five minutes for Shamrock, whose back line were a shattered remains of that who withstood the first half.

Shamrock returned to their frightened approach after conceding the three goals, their only shot of the since conceding the first of the trilogy came in the 75th minute, a wild strike going well over the bar, with another similar attempt coming ten minutes after. Whilst Danny Rose hit a strike from a wing position towards the opponants goal, whose effort was tipped over by the goalie, and Pavlychenko nearly made it 4-1, but couldn't make contact with the left side cross, and it was parried away by Brush. Tottenham's side of youngsters were running the show, and running it well.

The final ten minutes were hardly contested by Rovers, clearly fatigued from such a high profile match. Substitute Falque was allowed to casually stroll into the box and knock the ball down to Pavlychenko to hit, but to no prevail in the end. Dos Santos was also set up to run at pace into the box, only to be marshalled out by the poor performing full back Stevens. Falque was called into action on the 85th minute after some good build up play from the Spurs midfield, but the young Spaniard failed to a get a decent shot in on target. There was one late appeal for a penalty from the away team, but it was too little too late, Shamrock were well beaten. FULL TIME!

Tottenham: Carlo Cudicini, Sébastien Bassong, Kyle Walker, Vedran Corluka, Jake Livermore, Aaron Lennon (Andros Townsend, 45), Danny Rose (Harry Kane, 80), Thomas Carroll, Jermain Defoe (Iago Falqué, 73), Giovani dos Santos, Roman Pavlyuchenko
Shamrock Rovers: Richard Brush, Pat Sullivan, Dan Murray, Craig Sives, Jim Paterson (Enda Stevens, 45), Billy Dennehy, Ronan Finn (Rohan Ricketts, 73), Stephen O'Donnell (Conor McCormack, 45), Gary McCabe, Stephen Rice, Gary Twigg

BeeTeeSports Man Of The Match: Andros Townsend

What next for the Hammers?

It hurt me much more in 2003 when West Ham United got relegated to Division 1 on a tally of 42 points, because I truly believed that we could have stayed up. We spent two seasons in the madness of the Championship (reaching the play off final on both occasions) before we returned back to the heights of the Premier League. This season, it was more inevitable that we was heading for relegation than it was eight years ago. The spirit was removed from the team and replaced with the seldom exterior that we saw so many times on Avram Grants bulldog-like face. So now that we are certain to finish bottom; what will happen next season?

Our first problem to think about is the management. We need a coach who pumps enthusiasm into the players, rather than someone who stands there and expects his team to be motivated by his presence. I think it is unlikely that we will get Martin O'Neill, so the next best option is Chris Hughton. He knows how to turn a relegated team into Championship winners, as he proved with Newcastle in the 2009/2010, so he will know what is needed to give our players that winning mentality. I also wouldn't mind having Di Canio as his number two, due to the passion that he will bring to the club, but that probably won't happen.

Secondly; the players. We have been warned of a massive exodus from Upton Park in the coming months and the first one at the front of the line to escape East London will be Scott Parker. The PFA Players Player Of The Year and the three time in-a-row West Ham Player Of The Year deserves so much more than Championship football and I'm sure that a few Premier League managers will be happy to give him a place in their squad. He will be closely followed by the England internationals Robert Green, Matthew Upson and Carlton Cole, who I imagine will have ambitions to be wearing the Three Lions shirt again. On their way out aswell will be Gabbidon, Jacobsen and Dyer (all out of contract and unlikely to resign, especially Dyer, due to his enormous wage bill). Aswell as this, Hitzlsperger, Ba and Piquionne will be on search for better clubs, whilst Da Costa will probably be off after his dealings with the court. The two players who I'm not sure about are James Tomkins and Mark Noble, both of them are promising youngsters at a Premier League standard, but their loyalty may see them stay at the club.

Finally, we must think about our financial difficulties. I am one of the many West Ham fans who believe moving to the Olympic Stadium is an idiotic idea, yet the chairmen still want the move to continue, despite stating that we are one of the most financially unstable clubs in the country (makes sense doesn't it?). There is talk of getting a £40-60 million injection of money from Gold & Sullivan in order to keep the club afloat, whilst the selling of players will help us scrap a bit of cash. I have no idea what kind of transfer funds we will get for next season, but I assume that these funds won't be huge.

I'm looking forward to see how the next few months will plan out for West Ham United. I think that we have enough depth in the squad to at least make it into the play offs (due to the amount of young and experienced talent we have at our disposal). But you can never be sure in this crazy game of football...

Possible Championship winning line-up? (4-3-3): Stech, Faubert, Spence, Tomkins, Ilunga, Collison, Noble, Spector, Barrera, Sears, Stanislas.

Heurel-no! (Totteham 0-1 Real Madrid) (0-5 Agg)

There was definitely a sense of optimism before the game for the Tottenham Hotspur crowd, they believed that their hope, spirit and belief would encourage the team to play the game of their lives. Play a good game they did, but it wasn't enough...

The game started rather violently, with the scruffy looking Aussou-Ekotto fouling Ronaldo, which left him rolling around the floor (as he normally does), before he got up to set up the first Real attack of the game, which came to nothing. Straight after, Ozil and Adebayor linked up to present a chance for the young German, easily smuthered by Casillas. The Tottenham fans were full of anxiety, as they knew the enormity of the task ahead of them, but they were in full voice in a packed out White Hart Lane.

After the fairly explosive opening 10 minutes, the game calmed down slightly, with each teams attacks being the quelled by their opposite defences, while Ronaldo had some very wayward shots. It wasn't until the 26th mintue when Tottenham had their first clear-cut opportunity. Lennon went racing down the wing to deliver a perfect drawback for Pavlychenko, who blazed well over. There was also a penalty claim for Spurs, which was turned down by the referee, who had previously rejected claims from Bale and Modric. Real had some brief chances after a 36th minute corner, one was a header that was clawed away before Marcelo volleyed the rebound into the side netting.

Suddenly, a moment of hope for Spurs, a lobbed ball into the box was headed down by Modric into the path of the oncoming Bale, who lashed the ball into the net. GOAL!... But to the disappointment of the home crowd, it was called offside. Redknapp's men were creeping back into the game, holding possession and creating chances, but failing to deliver. There was a final chance for Pavlychenko before the break, hitting a low shot from 20 yards into the outstretched arms of the Real goalkeeper. By half time, Tottenham were in the ascendancy, but were no closer to closing the gigantic gap between them and the semi finals.

Second Half, and the worst possible start for Tottenham. In the 50th minute, Ronaldo took another one of his tame shots from 20 yards, going straight towards Gomes. Unfortunately, the Spurs' Number 1 decided to let the shot bounce off the top of his hands and bounce agonisingly into the net. It was an awful goal to concede, especially since Tottenham were playing so positively. 1-0 and 5-0 on aggregate.

Tottenham did respond well to the goal: they managed to retain their majority of possession and created the best chance of the game, a free Pavlychenko header going just over the bar from a Lennon cross. The opportunities kept coming for Tottenham, a Modric header went wide and a rocket from Defoe well saved, with the confidence-boosting goal still eluding them. Real also had their first shot of the half, the returning playmaker Kaka curled a shot from outside the box towards the nervous Gomes, who got a palm on the ball which slipped under his hand and out of touch (quite literally).

Another chance, more frustration. This time from a corner, which was lofted into the box and met by the head of Gallas, only to be denied by the post (or so it appeared). There was also the fourth penalty appeal of the game for the home team, swiftly followed by the fourth denial. The quater final descended into a relaxed kick around. Madrid were happy to keep the ball in the middle of the park, whilst Tottenham were desperatley trying to pull one back. Van Der Vaart's curling attempt on the 85th minute mark was the closest  they came in the final few minutes.


FULL TIME! The semi finals pair Real Madrid up with Barcelona for a mouth-watering El Classico derby, whilst Schalke go through to the play Manchester United. Tottenham should look back on this campaign with their heads held high, but if it wasn't for that Crouch red card in the first leg, who knows what could of been...

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Bale, Huddlestone (Sandro 71), Modric (Kranjcher 83), Lennon (Defoe 61), Van Der Vaart, Pavlychenko
Real Madrid: Casillas, Arbeloa, Carvalho, Albiol, Ramos (Granero 57), Alonso (Benzema 75), Khedira, Ronaldo (Kaka 65), Ozil, Marcelo, Adebayor

BeeTeeSports Man of the Match: Marcelo (8/10)

Billy Taylor

Wales get Bent backwards (Wales 0-2 England)

With England's Cricket side getting knocked out of the World Cup, the pressure was on the footballers to deliver a result that would restore pride to the nation, and they did not disappoint.

The game started with England flying out the traps with the pace of Scousers elbow, and within the first 5 minutes, they already had Wales on the ropes. Young had managed to squirm his way into the Welsh box before being brought down by Aston Villa defender James Collins. Lampard calmly stepped up to send the Wales and Wolves number 1 Hennessey the wrong way, slotting well into the bottom corner. 1-0!

Gary Speed's side should have seen the signs of another England goal. They were dominant with possession and were creating more chances with corners and a Rooney header towards goal cleared by Chris Gunter, but they were outplayed for the second. A long ball from Johnson to Ashley Young was accurate, Young then ran with the ball down the wing to deliver a sublime cross to his Villa compatriot Bent, who beat Collins at the near post to blast into the roof of the net. 2-0! with 15 minutes gone.

The game then slowed down to a tortoise, with no other shots on target being recorded. Rooney's volley attempt and Bent's header both went wide of the Wales goal, whilst the home sides best chance (if you can call it a chance) was a Bellamy cross that was cleared away by the England defence. By the end, the Welsh crowd were glad to hear the whistle sound for half time.

The start to the second half wasn't much better for Gary Speed's side, Hennesseys stray ball came to Ashley Young who whipped in another dangerous cross, but to no prevail, but they were allowed to attack a few minutes later. Bellamy made two runs towards Hart's goal, both of them resulting in wasted chances for the Dragons. The game did not really have much flow this half, as England were content to just sit back, whilst Wales had no finish. Ramseys attempt went high and wide, and their four corners within five minutes elluded most of the Welsh attack.

In the final minutes, there was enough time for substitute Stewart Downing to make a run towards the Welsh area, before narrowly missing with a curling strike. Bellamy also had a half chance from far out, but it went wide for a very frustrated Wales team. The full time whistle sounded on the city of Cardiff, we must thank England for the first 15 minutes of football, because without it we would have had a very dreary game.

Wales: Hennessey, J.Collins, Williams, D.Collins, Gunter, King (Evans 66), Crofts, Ramsey, Ledley, Bellamy, Morison (Vaughan 66)
England: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Dawson, Cole, Lampard, Parker (Jagielka 88), Wilshere (Downing 82), Young, Bent, Rooney (Milner 70)

BeeTeeSports Man Of The Match: Ashley Young (9/10)

Billy Taylor

Tottenham vs West Ham United: Preview

Today, we see the in-form (before the Stoke match) West Ham United face European chasers Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammers played the home fixture in September, winning the game 1-0 due to a Piquionne header. Of course now, conditions have changed. Tottenham didn't have the influential force of Van Der Vaart and West Ham weren't looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.

Tottenham fans have certainly been excited in recent days, their progression through to the quarter finals of the Champions League to face Real Madrid has given them a buzz. They have decided to drop Peter Crouch to the bench, deciding to go with pacey forwards Sandro and Defoe rather than use height. Spurs are without centre-backs Kaboul, Woodgate, King and possibly Gallas, who will have a fitness test before the match.

This clearly wasn't predicted by West Ham, who have replaced the youthful James Tomkins with a taller but slow Manuel Da Costa. Also, Avram Grant will be without Piquionne, who scored in the FA Cup Quarter Final loss against Stoke and was injured in the process. Ba will be back after being rested last week.

Possible Line Ups:

Spurs: Gomes, Bale, Gallas, Dawson, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Van Der Vaart, Modric, Sandro, Defoe

West Ham: Green, Upson, Da Costa, Bridge, Jacobsen, Parker, Hitzlsperger, Noble, O'Neil, Cole, Ba 

My Prediction:

Spurs will want revenge on West Ham. Firstly, because of their losing of the Olympic Stadium to the Hammers, and secondly, to make up for that defeat in 2010. I reckon West Ham can hold out against the North Londoners for a 1-1 draw.

Billy Taylor

Higginbotham sends Potters potty (Stoke 2-1 West Ham)

Stoke and West Ham fans could see that this was going to be a scruffy game when those numbers were drawn from the bowl, and it was, filled with poor referring decisions and tough tackling.

The Stoke crowd was loud of voice, which seem to spur its team on to create three chances in the first two minutes. First, an ambitious backheel volley from Kenwyne Jones, which was easily caught by Green. Next, a Pennant cross was met by the head of former Hammer Matthew Etherington only to be denied by a superb stop from the away sides keeper, and finally, a wide Huth header.

It was all Stoke at the moment, West Ham's only chance from the first 10 minutes was a poor Cole header from a Tomkins throw (if only he had got lessons from Delap). But Delap certainly showed Tomkins how it was done on the 11 minute mark. His cannon-ball like throw being smashed into the net by the forehead of Stokes' top scorer... Robert Huth. There was appeals for obstruction from Hammers captain Upson, who was blocked by Walters in the process, which were ignored by the under-par referee. 1-0!

It was desperate times for West Ham United, who resorted to shooting from ridiculous distances and hoping for a Sorensen blunder. Noble and Tomkins both tried (and failed) from long range. It was not looking good. But suddenly (after 10 minutes of monotonous play) a lifeline, courtesy of the 'Arm of God' from Fredric Piquionne. A sublime Hitzlsperger ball was met by the Hammers striker, who controlled it illegally, lobbed it over the Stoke goalie and bundle into the back of the net (Piquionne was hurt in the process and  had to be replaced by Spector). Sorensen raged towards the referee with the anger of the Incredible Hulk, only for his appeal to be turned down. 1-1! 
Nothing much happened for the rest of the first half. Walters went off injured (then went back on again), Whelan, Parker and Pennant all fired wide and there was a scramble in the West Ham box, which was thankfully cleared by Da Costa.

The second half exploded into life almost immediately. Etherington ran down the pitch, twisting and turning past the Hammers defence before falling over in the penalty box. It was indeed quite a soft penalty claim, with Ethrington being felled by a push by Tomkins, but it was a penalty nonetheless. He stepped up to take it, only to be denied by a fantastic dive from Robert Green.

The match was looking at lot more evenly-sided at this point, Shawcross and Jones had chances for Stoke and Parker had a free kick from the edge of the Stoke box, but it came to nothing. West Ham were playing the long ball game, Thomas Hitzlsperger knocking hopeful balls down field to Cole, who failed to make opportunities. The game took another controversial turn, a Pennant free-kick struck off an arm in the wall, meaning another free kick was to be taken 18 yards out. Higginbotham stepped up to smash ball through a gap created by Stoke players, Green managed to get a hand to it, but failed to stop it going in off the post. 2-1!

Sorensen was doing his best to keep Stoke City in the lead. First, he saved well from a drive from Victor Obinna. Then, blocked Keane's shot from a tight angle. When the game went past the 80th minute mark, it was all West Ham. Tomkins could have easily been given a penalty after being wrestled to the ground by Walters and then Upson headed against the crossbar from a Hitzlsperger corner. From then on it was the same pattern; long ball by West Ham and clearance by Stoke.
The game ended in frustration for the visitors as they were prevented from attacking with needless fouls and good hold up play from Stoke. When the full time whistle sounded, the home fans roared in delight, they have made the FA Cup semi final and have kept their unbeaten home record for 2011 intact. They go through to play Bolton for a chance to be in the final.

Stoke City: Sorensen, Wilson, Shawcross, Huth, Higginbotham, Pennant (Whitehead 80), Delap, Whelan, Etherington (Collins 90), Jones (Fuller 89), Walters
West Ham: Green, Da Costa, Tomkins, Upson, Bridge, Hitzlsperger, Parker, Noble (Hines 80), Piquionne (Spector 34), Cole, Obinna (Keane 67)

BeeTeeSports Man of the Match: Jermaine Pennant (8/10)

Billy Taylor

Rooney gives Arsenal the elbow (Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal)

Arsenal losing 2-0 at Old Trafford? Rooney scoring the winning? Doesn't that bring back memories of 2004, when the Red Devils ended the Gunners 49-game winning streak...

It was certainly a lively start by Arsene Wengers men. In the opening minutes, Arshavin had picked up the ball on the wing, floated past Wes Brown and hit a shot that went straight down the throat of Van Der Sar. Then, on the 10 minute mark, the 40-year old devil threw the ball straight to the Arsenal strike force which allowed Arshavin to have another shot; this time going tamely wide.

Now it was time for Man United to attack. Fabio stormed down the wing to deliver a wonderful ball to his brother, Rafael, who headed up and over the inviting goal. Then it was fairly usual stuff for the next ten minutes: pass, tackle, break, pass, tackle, break. The United fans broke out into a chant, telling the 9000 Arsenal fans that "Your support is f**king s**t" This clearly upset the Gunners, who allowed United to break.
The on-form Van Der Sar threw the ball out to Fabio, who lobbed it wide to Rafael. He ran down the wing and cut it back to Fabio. The younger brother then tapped it to Rooney and he crossed to Hernandez, his header bouncing off the palms of Almunia and into the path of Fabio to strike it into the roof of the net. It was a great free-flowing move that sparked the match into life. 1-0!


Two minutes after the goal, Man United were back on the offensive. Rooney crossing the ball into the waiting Fabio to head in his second goal, unfortunately he could not twist his head quick enough and instead knocked it out for a throw. The end to end match continued it's trend when Robin Van Persie had two chances to score, first of all a curling shot that was tipped by the United keeper and then a second chance when he headed wide from a corner. Arsenal were unable to create anymore real chances in the first half (apart from a near post Nasri shot) due to the defensive dominance of Chris Smalling. The former Fulham defender had the Gunners attack in the palm of his hand, blocking several shots and making important interceptions.


Second half, and Arsenal went out all guns blazing. Van Der Sar was forced to make a double save from Koscielny (what he was doing in attack... nobody knows) and then had to block Arshavins incoming cross.
 But all this attacking left the Gunners vulnerable and were quickly punished by a second goal! Rafael clipped the ball into Hernandez whos shot was blocked and deflected into the path of Rooney's bald bonce, which allowed him to nod into the empty net.


It was 2-0 to the Red Devils, and attempts on goal by Nasri, Diaby, Van Persie, Chamakh, Wilshere, Chamakh again and Rosicky all failed to get past the unstoppable Van Der Sar, as Arsene Wenger's men grew more frustrated, but it was about to get alot worse. Rooney and Hernandez broke, Rooney was found by a Giggs long ball, who cut it back to Hernandez and his shot was blocked by a combination of Djourou's body and Almunia's hand. But Djourou's dislocated his shoulder in the process and had to receive treatment on the pitch for over 6 minutes before finally being stretchered off.


During the 8 minutes of stoppage time (because of the injury) Rooney had two chances to score. The first was a weak half volley which was hit straight at Almunia, the second was a poor finish after a sublime pass from Paul Scholes. There was enough time for one last chance for the unlucky Hernandez, who was given the ball by Rooney only to shoot at oncoming Arsenal keeper.


FULL TIME! Arsenal have now not won away since mid-January and must recover from a very bad fortnight after being knocked out of 3 cup competitions and sustaining a season long injury to Johan Djourou. Manchester United go through to the semi's along with Bolton, who beat Carling Cup winners Birmingham 3-2 earlier today.

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Gibbs, Denilson (Chamakh 59), Wilshere, Diaby (Ramsey 71), Arshavin (Rosicky 71), Van Persie, Nasri
Manchester United: Van Der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Smalling, Evra (Scholes 80), Fabio (Valencia 45), O'Shea, Gibson, Rafael (Giggs 63), Hernandez, Rooney

BeeTeeSports Man of the Match: Edwin Van Der Sar (9/10) 

(P.S. I must apologise for constant jokes about Rooney and elbows in recent article's, but the BeeTee Sports team found it hilarious)
Billy Taylor

Stoke City vs West Ham United: Preview

F.A CUP QUARTER FINAL

It was only last week that the Hammers were facing the Potters in the Premier League, that ended up being 3-0 to West Ham, with goals from Ba, Hitzlsperger and Da Costa. A similar result today would be a fantastic boost for Avram Grant and his teams survival hopes. But before the Hammers start celebrating a premature victory, they must remember that the Britannia Stadium isn't exactly the easiest place to go, just ask Man City and Liverpool.


Stoke City are well known in the Premier League for two reasons. The first one being Rory Delap, who can make a team crumble by using his bare hands (which he uses to throw footballs into the oppositions 16-yard box). The other reason is their staidum; the Britannia. It is regarded as a fortress by many clubs and a only a select few teams can outplay Stoke at the ground. This is shown by the fact that no-one has won there in 2011 (except for Stoke...obviously). The Potters will put Thomas Sorensen in goal instead of usual Number.1 Asmir Begovic and they will also might be without Jermaine Pennant



West Ham are well know for kidnapping small Argentinians from third party companies and making them play for their team in order to prevent relegation (I'm joking, he wasn't kidnapped, only Neil Warnock believes he was and look at him now, being docked points for cheating). The Hammers are a rejuvenated side. Thanks to the works of Thomas Hitzlsperger, they have won their last three matches, scoring 11 and conceding only two goals. Grant has now been able to restore some winning mentality into the club after they came back from three goals down to draw with West Brom 3-3. They will welcome back Obinna and Parker from injury, but Robbie Keane is still 50-50 to play.

KEY BATTLE: Carlton Cole vs Robert Huth

Believe or not, these two players are the top scorers for their clubs this season. Huth has scored 7 goals in all competitions and is tied with Johnathan Walters and Kenwyne Jones. Carlton Cole has scored 11 goals in total for the Hammers, but will have to be on form to get past former Chelsea defender Huth. Both of the players pose an ariel threat from set pieces and will be provided chances with some crisp crosses from Hitzlsperger or Ethrington. Carlton Cole is indeed a slippery character to mark, ask Jamie Carragher, who was knocked over by his strength and made a mockery out of as Cole drilled in the third goal against Liverpool.

Possible Line Ups

Stoke City: Sorensen, Wilson, Huth, Shawcross, Pugh, Whitehead, Delap, Pennant, Walters, Jones, Carew.
West Ham:  Green, Da Costa, Tomkins, Upson, Bridge, Parker, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Cole, Piquionne, Ba.

My Prediction

Stoke will definitely want the victory more as they plan to seek revenge after last weeks thumping, but I can't see West Ham losing with this rich vein of form they seem to have developed. I'm going to predict 2-1 to the Hammers, Hitzlsperger and Cole grabbing goals in the first half before Walters gets an equalizer half way through the second, leading to a nail biting finish.

Billy Taylor

Manchester united vs Arsenal Preview

F.A cup Quarter Final

Arsenal travel to Old trafford after a terrible week for them, crashing out of the champo by a glistening performance from F.C Barcelona. Manchester United have also had an abysmal week as they were well beaten by a rejuvinated Liverpool side. However both Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson will definitely want to forget about the past by defeating their title rivals in the F.A cup quarterfinal showdown.

Both teams are without key players as Arsenal are without talismanic midfielder Cesc Fabregas and under-par goalkeeper Wojciech Szcezsny. Manchester United will have to work without their playmaker Nani and injury-hit defender Rio Ferdinand. Other than that, both managers have a strong side and will walk into the theatre of dreams to surely produce a scintillating battle between free flow with fluid passing and quick counter attacking play ( not a battle between Rooney's elbow and the Arsenal defence).

Manchster United have indeed got the upper-hand against Arsenal with a crisis situation now looming for Wenger's team with only one senior goalkeeper in Manuel Almunia and you can't help but feel sorry for him as out of the 4 goalkeepers he has,"Spill the beans"  Almunia is the one he must now rely on. However, Arsenal have won the F.A cup 10 times and they are not a team to be ruled out completely, well unless their playing Barcelona in the Nou camp.

Key battles

Dimitar Berbatov vs Laurent Koscielny

Berbatov has been the most prolific striker in the premier league this season after scoring 19 goals in which in undoubtedly his best season with Manchester United. His deadly finish and quick turn of pace would surely trouble Koscielny who is at the moment a walking time bomb (well he is french). His blunder cost Arsenal the Carling cup and even though he was solid against F.C Barcelona, he seemed rather depleted and definitely did not have the character we have sometimes seen from him which an experienced striker like Berbatov can take advantage of.

Jack Wilshere vs Michael Carrick

What can be said about this teen sensation that hasn't already been said? His moves, his vision, his voice? No were not talking about Justin bieber, its of course Jack wilshere who has already been dubbed as " the prodigy of England". His slick style and passing makes him one of the best young players in the planet whose own father is questioning whether jacks real dad was spanish or not. Michael Carrick on the other hand is now being hated by his own fans as his lack of confidence and match time has definitely taken part in his horrendous display against Liverpool where he just let them walk right through him and if he does do that again tomorrow and not hold onto Jack Wilshere, he may if possible be hated more than he is now.

Robin Van Persie vs Nemanja Vidic

Van persie may still be reeling from a questionable decision made by the ref at the Camp Nou but he definitely has the character to get passed that and show everyone in Old trafford that he is the best in the premier league. His finesse and control has helped him see to a rich form of late but if there's one man in the Premier League that can stop that, It's Vidic. The serbian centre-back is regarded as one of the best defenders in the world dominating strikers using his strength and well-controlled aggression. He is without a doubt, the best person to contain and isolate Van Persie and with him on form, Manchester United can see their way through.

Possible line ups

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Nasri, Wilshere, Rosicky, Van Persie

Manchester United: Van Der Sar, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes, Rooney, Berbatov

My Predictions
I think that Manchester United want it more and will work more as a team and with the home advantage you can visualise them seeing the game through. I'll go for a comfortable 2-0 win here with Berbatov scoring early on and Hernandez doing what he does best, scoring in the last 10 minutes.

By K-Dot (AKA Hanif Kabir)

Spurred to Victory (Tottenham 0-0 AC Milan)

It was a game of terrible tackles, dramatic acting, and some football managed to feature.

It was nervous times for Tottenham halfway through the first half. Gomes wandered blindly into no man's land and could only watch as Pato's goalbound shot struck Assou-Ekotto and deflected into the path of Gallas' powerful foot which managed to clear off the line. It was pretty much all AC Milan at this point. White Hart Lane then turned into some sort of Judo arena, with high foots flying everywhere and Kevin Prince Boateng falling over every 2 minutes when he approached a white shirt. The half ended with Assou-Ekotto blasting from far out and missing the target.

Second half came. Crouch immediately had a chance to finish a minute gone, but chose to knock the ball down to an empty space, who failed to finished. This is what Spurs chose to do for most of the second half, just hit the ball to Crouch and hope he could do something with it. This caused the centre-forward to commit constant fouls (7 by the 59th minute) against the frail AC Milan defence as he jumped ontop of them in attempts to reach the ball.

65th minute came, a shot rifled in towards the edgy Gomes who managed to scramble it away to safety. The constant threat of Milan was beginning to take it's toll on the defence, but they were getting more fustrated. This was shown by Flamini (who was being booed due to his former career at Arsenal) as he continued to make reckless tackles, despite being on a yellow card.

After a brief penalty shout for Spurs after a handball, the AC attack was back on again. Lively substitute Merkel had a dangerous shot towards goal, but it was blocked by the head of Sandro, who was Spurs best player during the game. A minute later, Pato threatened Gomes' goal again, narrowly missing from the edge of the box.

Flamini was then taken off, to be replaced by Rooney (not Wayne 'eat-my-elbow' Rooney, I mean Rooney Strasser: AC Milan striker) and at 90 mins, Robinho's deflected shot just went over the bar after a Gallas block.
FULL TIME! An English manager has finally made it through to the quarter finals and the Tottenham fans can breath a sigh of relief. They have shut out AC Milan for 180 minutes and deserve to go through to the last 8.

Tottenham vs AC Milan Preview

Good Evening Bloggers! Today, we shall either watch Tottenham triumph to complete an amazing victory over another Milan side or AC complete a comeback and begin the journey to retain their 2007 trophy, (or we could see Joe Gordon running towards Gattuso at the final whistle and giving him a right hook).

Tottenham have a clear advantage over Milan, they are playing with a goal advantage at the fortress which is White Hart Lane, but it would be foolish to underestimate the 11 time finalists.

Good news for the hosts, Gareth Bale might return to full fitness and retain his place on the wing, ready to rip up an aging Milan side, or he could have one of his quiet Premier League performances. Van Der Vaart could also come back into the line up to play a killer through ball to Crouchy, who will probably score with a menacing finish.

Most of the Milan side should be able to hobble onto the pitch with their zimmer frames. Except for Pirlo and Ambrosini, who are stuck in the retirement home. But AC Milan aren't all OAP's, they have the youthful attack of Pato, Robinho and Ibrahimovic, who will cause the Tottenham defence problems if let loose.

My prediction: Spurs to battle it out for a 1-1 draw and advance to the quarter-finals.