Ozil was rubbish today but at least we won!! :D

Continuation of my one-line post yesterday night. Typed that while waiting for Stone Sour to come on at Hammersmith Apollo (which, by the way, was an awesome concert - and I personally felt SS edged A7X a little last night! ^_^). Anyway, I'm so glad we managed to come back from behind to beat Hercules 3-1! Ozil had a terrible match - apparently he was a ghost- not sure why he didn't play well GIVEN he was rested against Murcia. He has been awesome in the past 3 weeks...I hope he realises that his place in the squad isn't secure and that Benzema/Canales/Leon could easily take his spot if he fails to perform. =( Praying he will bounce back in mid-week for the Milan match!

On the other match, MU beat Spurs 2-0 (OK, technically 1-0). When I was watching the match in the first half, I thought they played pretty well - Park has stepped up in this match, which is great, given he has been rubbish for a while now. He seems to have perked up and looks to be taking the initiative to create chances since he scored in the league cup match on Tues. I can't stand Nani though - God, does he need to dive/pretend/act up EVERY time an opponent touches him? But in all, good results over the weekend.

Now to pray for the UCL clashes....and other things. Gulp.

*Listening to Digital (Did You Tell) by Stone Sour*

1/3 happy!

Bayern won 4-2 yesterday - and I 'm relieved. They were TERRIBLE in the first half - god knows what was going on - they played without energy and pace. But the 2nd half was great - and I finally got a glimpse of the Bayern that I was waiting for all this while!!! Demichelis made a rare and also sudden start after Badstuber injured himself in warm-up - and he repaid LvG with the first goal of the game, few minutes before half time. He's not that bad to be honest, but then I think the CBs in Bayern suck in general. DvB sucks quite badly too so I don't know if choosing Demi instead will make much of a difference. Butt does not instill any confidence in me - man, I think he should retire.... Lahm had a bad game too - I really hope he finds his form back =(. But onto the positive bits, Tymo was very good again - and contributed to a goal too! The other 2 (or 3..GRRR I HATE BRAAFHEID - he put in an OG in the final few minutes of the match and I really felt like killing him!!!) came from Gomez and Kroos (with a 25 yard howler!). All in all, it was a good result even if only our 2nd half performance deserved to be commended upon. Kroos has never impressed me - he always seems to be a bit to slow and his passing isn't great - he also has a tendency to shoot from far (but usually it's way above the goal), I hope this is a turning point for him as well and he continues to improve for Bayern. Apparently in the past year or so, a lot of people have rated him much more highly than Ozil so I am left here wondering if they were all blind or something?!? Let's hope this revival continues on....next on, I think, is a match against Roma in mid week.

In a couple of hours, the MU match, and then the RM match will take place. I'm really nervous....

*Listening to Unfinished by Stone Sour*

Afraid of the mighty slayers?

You bet I am! Both MU and RM face tough foes tomorrow night while FCB are looking at another "park-the-bus" team tonight at home with Freiburg. I'll be catching the game tonight though - hopefully we'll just about win? I don't know. Our attack has been futile lately - Klose is out again for another 3 weeks, Gomez seems to have lost his form again, Altintop is a disaster and Muller is..well, off-form. Our defence looked so bad against Werder that I'm not too sure what's happening. Lahm also seems to be underperforming lately - the early goal from Werder was partially his fault... I'm expecting a low scoring game...and I think we'll let in a goal. Nothing they've done lately has given me confidence on them playing as a team. We have been lucky...but it's only a matter of time before it runs out and you need to start relying on real skills to win, isn't it? BUT because I love the team, I hope our luck runs up 'til the point when Robbery comes back for good!!! =D

RM faces Hercules tomorrow night (which I will be missing AGAIN - sigh - but due to the A7X and Stone Sour concert! :D) - and I'm really scared that we'll drop points. My confidence of the team has been whacked after Tuesday. It sure does seem that RM hasn't found a way to beat park-the-bus teams. Barca probably learnt how to deal with that last season so they have handled it with amazing efficiency this season (Bar one: Hercules. Gulp. :S) by basically relying on one touch/genius moves from Messi. As much as I rate CR7 as the star of the team, he is still not at Messi's level. It was clear during Tuesday's match that he couldn't carry the team against defensive teams by himself. Definitely not like how Messi does it for Barca anyway. Yes, CR7 could sometimes pull one-man-tricks against more "open" opponents but even then, he does rely quite a lot on his team mates to deliver the ball to him. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing at all but I do sometimes feel that a successful team needs a single player that can make the difference/change the flow of a game that is not going well - and I frankly don't see him as that sort of player. Ozil may be more capable in this respect - but I probably need to see a lot more evidence to substantiate this point.

MU faces a TOUGH home game with Spurs. Ugh, Spurs is so dangerous. Won't be surprised if we lose considering how aggressive Spurs has been (albeit not consistent - but then again, so are we!). I just can't stand the potential gloating from my bro. Ugh x 1000. They scare me because Spurs has the tendency to score late goals and are good at catching up from behind, while we have been the total opposite - usually taking the lead, but throwing it away at the last minute! Bad combination. Hopefully Hernandez's good form continues and Berba starts scoring again as he hasn't scored since the L'pool match.....

That's all the matches for the w/e - I just have to pray for +ve results from all of them by keeping my fingers, toes, legs, etc., crossed!

Also hoping for an awesome concert tomorrow night - it'll be a double bill of A7X and Stone Sour! Woohooo!!!!!

*Listening to Mission Statement by Stone Sour*

I'm strangely...

...still feeling gutted over yesterday's loss. Or perhaps I'm just being a bitter prat as Barca won their game easily 0-2? Not sure why I'm still this upset. I'm now having bigger and bigger doubts about how far RM can realistically get to this season. Our one weakness is the inability to penetrate parked buses - surely we'll only be facing more and more teams like this from now on? We have not even met the top 5 contenders in the La Liga yet and we're already stuttering like this? Would Ozil have made the difference yesterday? Or would he have been equally lost at how to handle this? I know these are unanswerable questions - ARGH - OK at least they are out of my system. Reading Hercules's credentials, they are apparently professional bus park-ers...so I'm very worried now. Another draw (or worse still, loss!) would be a big blow to our confidence ahead of the Milan match next week.

So what is the solution? You tell me. Sigh.

*Listening to The Never-ending Why by Placebo*

Two-thirds happy....

I am SOO relieved that Man U got pass Wolves just in time! Hernandez scored the goal in the last couple of minutes of the game...a superb and important goal to put us in front 3-2. Boy, I love that guy!! :D Now I'm happy - when I began typing this post, we were ahead 2-1, then it became 2-2 and Hernandez was subbed in and scored the winner! :D I was happy before this, too, because Bayern manage to get out of the Werder jinx to win 2-1 thanks to 2 magnificent goals from Schweini (after a stupid defensive error in the 2nd minute!!!). I thought it was over when Pizarro scored. But Bayern was lucky (although IMHO, we wasted too many chances by Altinflop not being clinical enough throughout the match) as Werder was very dangerous and defending awfully well, too. Muller wasn't lucky (well, TBH he hasn't been lucky for a while now!) and got penalised a couple of times tonight. But never mind, the most important thing was to win and we did! :D

Next comes the not so good part. Murcia. ARGH. They parked the bus in front of their goal (I really mean it, RM had 89% possession!!!) and we couldn't score. At all. Yeah, not even with Ronaldo, Higuain, Di Maria (albeit they played partially in the game) - but it's sad. Watching the game was so frustrating. We tried so hard but couldn't put anything in. Throughout the game, I was being quite critical though - renouncing Benzema, Leon, Canales, Granero, plus everyone else who are non starters, basically, to the bench - IMVHO, they were clearly not good enough for the team (OK me being biased and angry right now so I might take this statement back later on...). Now I totally understand why Mou plays his starting XI. Without Ozil and Xabi to deliver the balls up front, RM looked like an ordinary team. And that's not a good sign. Most of the young players (excluding Benzema...grrrr) tried so hard - esp Canales, Granero, Leon - but it was clear that they still had a LONG way to go before being allowed to start a match. I wouldn't start them if I were Mou. Canales looked lost most of the time - and Leon was trying too hard and fluffing WAY too many chances. I know they were both trying hard to impress the boss but c'mon!!!! Anyway, at least we didn't lose and I think Murcia knew that this was the best they could do. Their keeper was awesome though - definitely my MoTM - he made excellent saves and denied us SOO many chances on goal. Oh well - now that we've tasted "defeat" and have been brought down to earth once again, we will have to start right from bottom (I'm sure Mou has given the guys a good b*llocking after the match and since RM didn't lose, they won't be dead to Mou. HAHAHA!!!). Oh, and methinks Benzema will be permanently benched until January when the transfer window opens again as he blew his chance to do something useful for the team today. I never truly appreciated the XI - now I do - and I think every other fan does as well. I sure hope we will bounce back for this weekend when we face Hercules! =)

That's all for me, folks. More laterz...

*Listening to Almost Easy by Avenged Sevenfold*

Totally forgot..

...that there are 3 matches to watch tonight. Don't know how I'm gonna juggle these but I'll very likely rush home to watch FCB vs Werder on TV, while switching intermittently to see MU vs Wolves on another channel and keep the RM vs Murcia match going online!

Lol! Happy days indeed.

*Listening to Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold*

Good results over weekend!

Short post from me today - but RM thumped Santander 6-1 on Sat night! :D Much to my delight - I was a bit worried before that but as I was nervously checking the results before dinner, it was 5-0! About 10 minutes later, Ozil scored the 6th! =D I was SOO happpy!! I watched the recording of the match yesterday - and man, were they on fire. A bit messy but very good - I'm hoping Ozil will get the rest he very much needs during these few days (he's not playing in the CDR match tomorrow) and play even better after that. Somehow, the moment he leaves the field, the attacking chances and prowess reduces noticeably (I don't think I'm biased when I'm saying this). I have noticed how Mou plays Ozil: he usually keeps Ozil on the field until RM are in a very comfortable position before taking him off. Canales, who came on for Ozil, was good - but it's hard to judge him unless I watch him play a full match (which would be the CDR I reckon!). As most people have said (and I have observed), he's still a bit green - give him time and I'm quite sure he will be a starter for RM in the near future. BUT, I am admittedly a tad bit disappointed - maybe I was expecting to see a player that blows me away (ala Ozil) - but perhaps I was expecting too much!

The Man U-Stoke match was awesome - Man U were a bit shaky and too much fouling occurred. Man U deservedly won, only by a breath though, because Stoke equalised at the 80th minute. I was already about to cry because I thought it would end in a draw. Thankfully, Hernandez did his magic again to score his 2nd goal in the match. Amazing guy and am really liking him. Definitely not the finished product yet, but hopefully getting there. His first goal was deflected into the net by a back header!! I hope the season has turned the other way round for us.....

That's all for me now - probably more after the CDR match tomorrow!

*Listening to Through Glass by Stone Sour*

scrappy results + excellent concert!

Bayern drew 0-0. Sigh. I am totally lost for words and am pretty sure they will struggle to qualify for UCL if this carries on. I know, I know - a lot of their first team players are injured - but hey, it happens to every team, doesn't it? Esp for first rate teams, coaches should be well prepared to face these sort of unexpected circumstances. In ANY case, I'll just have to keep supporting them as I believe they do have the quality to produce good football. *breathe in, breathe out*

As I was so anxious checking out scorelines, I was actually in the Apollo Hammersmith waiting for Alter Bridge. Man, they were AMAZING! Myles Kennedy is the ultimate frontman - such a good voice and boy, do they ROCK! I still can't freaking believe that his musicians were in Scott Stepp's Creed band members =.=" (ugh, gives me goosebumps!). Anyway, the concert made me happy at least =). It's funny how I felt so crap before the concert, but during the concert, I had a miraculous recovery, to then feel crap after it! So I think the best cure for any form of illness is rock concert therapy! ^_^ Luckily I'm feeling fine today *fingers crossed* and about to go for a hen do in the next half hour.

Tonight is also the RM vs Santander match, which I will be missing (booooo hisss). I'm not sure what to expect of though - RM tends to slip up against weak clubs....but I'll keep my faith in them =) =) =) *Ozil*

*Listening to Breathe Again by Alter Bridge*

Rooney is the biggest hyprocrite EVER!

O.O

Properly annoyed he started this whole drama and just signed a 5-year contract. Must be trying to negotiate higher £wages. Jeez......

It's nearly the weekend again...

How fast time flies and before you know it, it'll be December! Anyway, I've been feeling ill since yesterday - am marginally better today - was about to come down with a flu + cold + fever. Ever since I was feeling slightly feverish, I've been dousing myself with panadols every couple of hours as I need to be well enough for...

1) Alter Bridge tonight

2) El's hen party tomorrow

In ANY case, it's not like I will miss either occasions! I'm really looking forward to the gig tonight - AB is an amazing band - they're SOO much better than Creed and I'm really liking their new album. Only slight nugget is that I'll be missing the Hamburg vs. Bayern match. Perhaps it's a good thing as I can't fathom any logical explanation for a Bayern win. Yeah, it's sad but without *Robbery* (i.e., Robben + Ribery - btw I'm really liking this nickname!), Bayern is almost like a B-team. Muller hasn't regained his form yet, and Lahm can only do so much since the defence is so weak. Kroos is...hmmm...I don't know - I never really got to liking his style of play - he's not exactly fast or accurate and he keeps shooting totally out of range. However, I'm probably quite unfair to compare him to AM players like Ozil though. He'll probably end up being a Schweini type of player IMHO. Altintop is completely hopeless - enough said. Hopefully FCB's good luck didn't run out on Tuesday and Gomez can score tonight...or maybe I'm just hallucinating due to my fever?

The more upsetting fixture that I will be missing is the RM vs. Racing Santander tomorrow night. It'll probably be one of the rare chances to see Canales play (or at least I think he will....) - must remind myself to tape the match! Also, I never liked missing watching Ozil play - his playing is so addictive and I can only wish to see him play every day (He'll probably die from fatigue by the end of the week I reckon! Lol!). Oh well. Let's hope RM's momentum keeps up and that we don't get overconfident!

As MU plays on Sunday, I'll get to watch the Stoke match (yes, I promise not to sleep during the match!) and the next one should excite anyone: Arsenal vs Man City! I'm really liking Silva - he's an amazing AM - surely a Fabregas vs Silva fixture will be fun to watch!

*Listening to Rise Today by Alter Brige*

ugh.

OK - so we won - but boy, the match was beyond boring. After Nani scored a spectacular goal at the 7th minute, the excitement just went downhill thereafter. Yep, I'm talking about the remaining ~85 minutes of the match. But being the supporter that I am, I refrained from switching to the Inter-Spurs match (which ended 4-3!), and forced myself to watch them play. I can't believe that this is happening - never have I ever felt *bored* watching a MU match up until this season - it started with the MU-Rangers match (which was also a snoozefeast) and then the lucky win over Valencia (yes and that was at 2.45am M'sian time!!). I can take low scoring games, but please play with some flair, skills and ambition! In that respect, I can't complain about the way RM plays - they play a really good game of attacking/flowing football with so much energy and pace.

Nonetheless, 3 wins from my 3 teams is not bad. I'm missing the RM match this Sat night (must remind myself to tape it!) and am having second thoughts about watching the MU-Stoke match on Sun. Oh dear.

Here's a pic to make me happy :D

*Listening to Show Me a Sign by Alter Bridge*

Phewwww............... :D

Is really relieved - FCB and RM won 3-2 and 2-0, respectively. MoTM for the RM was defo Ronaldo - wow, I nearly forgot how Ronaldo was =). Ozil had a so-so match - could have been better, honestly. Nonetheless, I'm relieved and happy - hoping tomorrow will be a happy night too!

Bad news: Roo is leaving.

Looks like it's for real. Oh well - I always believed that one should not try to keep a player that does not want to play for you.

But thanks for the awesome season of '09/'10 - we couldn't have done it without you (esp with CR& gone)!

*Listening to Bittersweet Memories by BFMV*

Tonight, tonight...

The UCL continues tonight with 2 of my teams playing (simultaneously) - I'll be splitting my concentration between the RM and FCB matches, with greater attention on the RM match.

Honestly, if FCB can't overcome Cluj, I really think they don't deserve to get through! Obviously I'm not hoping for that to happen but you never know - FCB is still rather inconsistent and shaky; the midfield is left wanting...and defence...when the CB you use is actually a defensive midfielder, you know it's time to improve your squad (no offence to Tymo as he did great in the Hannover match)! LvG is a master tactician, no doubt - so we'll see what he comes up to tonight *fingers crossed*.

The other match really makes me nervous. Maybe because RM's record against AC has been quite bad - don't think we've won against them in the past couple of years - and AC has a super power frontline that includes Ibrahimovic, Pato, Ronaldinho and Robinho. If that is not scary enough, I don't know what is. IMHO, our defence is still not as solid as acclaimed. I agree with most opinions flying around that RM has not faced a challenging club so far so this match will definitely be a test of true skills and whether these guys can play together as a team. Will Özil be able to rise to the occasion this time around? Or will he be left invisible (or hard pressed in midfield) ala WC10 semis? I don't know. I'm obviously hoping for him to shine here, to prove to the world that he is indeed capable of facing and taking on the world's best teams and excel. Ah well, nonetheless, all the luck to RM for the game tonight *fingers, toes, hands, legs, whatever, crossed*!

So 2 matches that could leave me grinning ear-to-ear or depressed/screaming/tearing - let's hope for the former. =)

*Listening to Keep It Together by Puddle of Mudd*

Random suggestion...

...after the numerous rumours flying around about Rooney getting kicked out of MU: what about a swap of Torres for Rooney? Since they are both out of form, might as well just swap them for £0 transfer fee. Pretty sure things can't get any worse anyway.

*Listening to All Hope is Gone by Slipknot*

Good result! =)

Thankfully, watching the final match yesterday was indeed very satisfying! Just FYI, I was hibernating in front of laptop/TV from 2.30pm up to 11pm!! Luckily I have very wonderful friends who understand my utter obsession. Lol! Anyway, the 1-4 drubbing of Malaga was a joy to watch and it basically made my day (which fortunately did not actually end after the match, but carried on 'til 5am since we were playing games after that haha!). Anyway, I do admit that Malaga is not a top-tier team and that the real challenge will take place this Tuesday, when RM takes on AC - now, that is definitely going to be the REAL test of whether the team is good enough, or not. But nonetheless, the two big wins are confidence boosters and I, for one, am glad.

Ozil has been nothing but a joy to watch (bias Em again!) - he assisted the 2nd goal for a tap in for CR7; won a penalty that CR7 converted AND also nearly assisted RM's 5th goal (Benzema was the culprit for this!?!?!). CR7, Higuain and Marcelo were outstanding yesterday - Marcelo was surprisingly not giving the ball away that much! Alonso had a so-so day while Di Maria was decent enough to terrorise the flank. Khedira was steady as always while I think Ramos was missed as the right-back because Albeloa wasn't having a good game. But very soon after the 4-1 was achieved, Mou substituted Higuain and Ozil for Pedro Leon and Canales (finally!). The moment when Mou went over to "ask" Leon to warm up was SOO funny - it was as though he was shouting "Hey you, what are you doing? Hurry up and warm up!" - nonetheless a VERY startled Leon immediately got up to jog (well there was some issues of a bust up between the 2 recently, that probably explains why :P). Still, he did impress me quite a bit, very quick on the flanks and with pretty good crossing skills. Canales, well, I really can't conclude much from the 10-minute cameo for Ozil except that he picked up a yellow card (?!?)...but I probably need to see him play a full match before I judge him. Whereas for Pedro Leon, it was quite evident that he was good (albeit he did have around 20mins of playing time AND is older with more experience), I couldn't quite make out anything to say on Canales - perhaps he will feature more in the Copa del Rey? I have yet to see this most talked about "talent and skills" of this guy - but am happy to give him a chance (yes, he's v cute and I'm unashamed to confess that I'm a total sucker because of that ^_^)

Next up is the RM vs AC match and FCB vs Cluj UCL matches on Tuesday followed by MU vs Bursasphor on Weds. Really looking to these matches! :D OK, I am actually very worried about the outcome for all of them (esp RM), but there's really nothing I can do but pray that they all get through OK....

Love this pic below from yesterday's match btw!

*Listening to Open Your Eyes by Alter Bridge*

2 matches gone...

...and so far, there's been one good result, and one bad result.

Bayern finally found their form in the 2nd half of the match. They started off very shaky and Hannover actually looked a hell lot more dangerous on attack. But later on, the team (I have to say that it's mostly the 2nd string players since they have a LONG list of injuries...) glued and then it all began when Gomez scored his first! Gomez ended up with a hat-trick to make the final result 3-0. I don't know if this is the turning point we are looking for, but I sure hope so! =) Another piece of good news is Mainz stuttered and lost to Hamburg today - but Dortmund nicked a win off Cologne yesterday at the final minute! All in all, I sure hope it's going up from here for FCB =) =) =)

Man U...man, I really want to scream when I think of how we lost a 2-0 lead to draw by the end of the match. I knew we were not great, but not THIS BAD! It's so pathetic - and I feel so sad and depressed thinking about it.

About to start watching some filler matches (Chelski vs Aston Villa; followed by Barca vs Valencia...) before the REAL match comes along....

I would be really sad if that one ended badly though........

*Listening to Don't Cry by G&R*

Weekend's nearly here!

And it's the resumption of regular footie!! Yippee!! Looks like I will have to wait for a couple of months before seeing the German team in action once again.

Anyway, tomorrow can prove to be a rather fruitful (or disastrous...gulp!) day in terms of *crucial* matches to watch for me. In a sad way, all 3 of my teams have to collect 3 points each this time - even draws will NOT be good enough at this stage - especially for MU and FCB. For RM, we need the points to keep up with Valencia and Villareal, while trying to keep Barca at bay. Starting with the FCB match kicking off at 2.30pm, which I will try to watch simultaneously with the MU match, which starts at 3.00pm - although I'm not sure how I'm gonna do this or which commentary to follow without missing out on the action. Then, I think I will be shifting downstairs to watch the Chelski match on TV at 5.30pm while trying to help with some cooking (as we're hosting a small party at our house tomorrow) :P. Then from 7.00pm, there will be 2 La Liga matches that will surely be the highlight of the weekend - FCB vs Valencia; followed by Malaga vs RM!

I sure hope my friends don't think I'm being antisocial between 7-11pm tomorrow....

*Listening to All I Want by A Day to Remember*

Life is beautiful...

I've heard this song for nearly 2 years now - and have just been re-listening to this after discovering that DJ Ashba is also part of the band, Sixx: A.M.

Awesome and really sad song...

You can't quit until you try
You can't live until you die
You can't learn to tell the truth
Until you learn to lie

You can't breathe until you choke
You gotta laugh when you're the joke
There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?

I know some things that you don't
I've done things that you won't
There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home

I was waiting for my hearse
What came next was so much worse
It took a funeral to make me feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Alive...
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Totally blown away...

...by the G&R concert last night. They were absolutely amazing! Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever seen in my life =) Albeit, Axl came on an hour late (which I was actually thankful for LOL!) - so he came on stage at 9.40pm but proceeded to give the best 2hr 40mins of live music one can ever hope for! I know how everyone puts off G&R just because the band is without 80% of its original line-up (notably Slash) but his new musicians are nothing short of amazing. Man, I have a total crush on one of them: DJ Ashba....his guitaring is STUNNING! Anyway to cut a long story short, they played a good mix of new and old stuff - and without being biased, I must say that the new stuff is surprisingly good too. Axl is in a class of his own in terms of showmanship - boy, does he know how to strut his stuff - AND all those years of rock and roll hasn't affected his voice one bit. In all, freaking awesome show!

Since I'm half happy now, I really hope Saturday will make the other half of me happier still ^_^

*Listening to Paradise City by G&R*