Frederico 'Kiko' Macheda - Remember Him?

Frederico 'Kiko' Macheda has been largely out of the limelight this season. The hiring of Michael Owen as the designated impact substitute off the bench has kept him away from any first team  Premier League action this season. Injuries also have hampered his progress this season.

I remember a 17-year old man-child, whose introduction to English Premier League football was so dramatic that it brought home an 18th league championship for Manchester United. Yes, Sir Alex Ferguson had Macheda to thank for last season's title triumph. The goals against Villa and then Sunderland really got United out of jail last season.

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EPL: The Title Run-In

Finally after the international matches, some normalcy resumes and the English Premier League resumes. At this stage, anything can happen and it is looking like an exciting title run-in could be on the cards. Obviously, all eyes in Asia especially will be on two key matches i.e. Man Utd-Villa and Fulham-Liverpool. If all goes according to form, then this could be the start of the most interesting title run-in.

A smarting Red Devils host a shell-shocked Villans in Old Trafford in a game that Fergie will not want to lose. But he will have to avoid defeat without the Terrible Trio of Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Wazza "I'm gonna be a father!" Rooney. United will surely miss all three for this game. They do have able replacements in Anderson, Evans and Berbatov.
Liverpool go to Craven Cottage full of confidence. They even have the added boost of knowing that Steven Gerrard, the world's most complete midfielder, has signed a two-year extension to his contract. Dirk Kuyt also has signed. This indicates a formidable sense of belief within the Liverpool ranks that this could be their breakthrough season. Fulham are no pushovers and they have done well against the Big 4, having only lost to Arsenal. When both Gerrard and Torres play this season, Liverpool have won 7 out of 9 matches. There is no more excuse for Rafa but to field a settled side, after all his demands had been met by the Liverpool board. The expectation is an away win for the Reds and the supporters have deserved that.

Getting ready for an action-packed weekend....

The Future is Asia Pacific

I hope this piece of information will prove useful once again to the marketers in Manchester United or even Real Madrid. After all, they are the ones who have put the word "global" onto football.

Turns out the manutd.com is the most popular website on the internet. Also the visits from non-home country shows that the game has a global reach (which of course is something that we all know, duh!).

Whats more interesting is that French football is very insular in nature as reflected by their smaller numbers of non-home country hits. Well, if Lyon can win the Le Championnat 7 times in a row, you have to wonder about the competitiveness of the league. Nevertheless, French football clubs have loads of potential if marketed correctly. I don't remember Marseille, Lyon or Bordeaux doing a tour of Asia or China. Hopefully the clubs see this as an opportunity and try to raise the profile of their clubs abroad. I am bored of seeing fans in their Man U or Liverpool or Arsenal team shirts.

Check out the study done in http://www.netimperative.comnews2008july2top-10-uk-football-team-sites.mht

Here, one could see that Asia Pacific internet traffic accounted for almost 1/3 of the total visits to the EPL Big 4 websites. Surprisingly, Arsenal.com gets more hits (12%) in MEA (Middle East & Africa) than even Manutd.com (6%). They must be benefitting from the "popularity" of the obnoxious Emanuel Adebayor (Togo) and brilliant Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast). Also interesting, Liverpoolfc.tv seems to be the most popular (52%) website in the UK which goes to show that there are always fairweather fans tagging along any team who are at the top of their game.

So does this mean that Richard Scudamore's idea of a 39th round with the matches played overseas is rubbish? From this evidence, it looks a certain winner!

A Must-Win Match?

This Saturday, the match I would term as the "title decider" will take place. The biggest match of this season (Man Utd v. Liverpool) will, in my opinion, decide if this season will continue to be a two-horse race or basically a boring 18th title for Man Utd.
18th, tied with Liverpool! Boy, that would truly suck!
Man for man, Liverpool is more than a match for Man Utd. And the Reds are buzzing after a sensational 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid. If Rafa decides on a 4-4-1-1 formation, then they will have a great chance. Gerrard, being a big game player, will be driving Liverpool on from the more advanced "in the hole" position. If Liverpool gets an early goal at Old Trafford then they have every chance of closing the gap to a mere 4 points. Defensively, Liverpool is hard to break down and at Old Trafford, with the expectation of Man U fans, the Devils will pour forward and that will just play into Liverpool's hands. The Reds are after all, a very competent counter-attacking side and Torres (back to his best) will trouble Nemanja Vidic.
With Rooney stoking the flames with his "I hate Liverpool" sentiments, this will only heat up the competitive nature of this match adding to the excitement. Doing the double over ManUre for the first time in over 6 seasons would be absolutely heavenly. Yes, the last time Liverpool did the double over Man Utd was at the 2001/2002 season!
Expect a cagey affair where an early goal from Liverpool will seal it, making the title chase a more interesting affair.


Now if only Liverpool had beaten the likes of Hull and Stoke City......sigh....