World Cup Group Review

Alright, the greatest event to ever grace this planet is back after 4 damn years. Last night the draw took place to determine teams for the group stages.

My Group of Death would go to Group C which consists of Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro and Netherlands. Crespo, Drogba, Kezman and Robben. All excellent Chelsea forwards fighting it out. All strong countries with great players. I personally for hope the Serbs and Ivory Coast to triumph. All the matches for this group must be fantastic to watch.

All the talk is of how England managed to get an easy group. And they would probably go through. Paraguay's power era of the great Chilavert had long gone. I'm not sure if Dwight Yorke still plays Trinidad & Tobago. The main challenger would be Sweden. But as most Swedes play in the EPL, their experience would not be enough to clear the England hurdle. This group is too easy.

Representing Asia is Iran, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia. No one expects much but I would love to see some upsets and maybe a quarter final place for an Asian country if we're lucky. Japan vs Brazil could be a good match as I'm sure the legendary Zico have some tricks to stop Brazil. And maybe Australia or Japan can covet the 2nd spot to progress. Iran can bank on the fact that Angola is a first time participant and try and to qualify for the next stage. Saudi is up against Spain and Ukraine so it is a lost cause there. South Korea has a rather easy group as well so. And as Togo is another 1st time African country so a 2nd placing is also possible.

The rest of the groups should not see any major upsets. Except maybe Ghana with Essien who could cause some damage in Group E. Germany, Costa Rica, Italy, Czech Republic, Portugal, Mexico, Spain and Ukraine should progress easily. The dark horse would be USA and Ghana.

Come on all Chelsea players!

P.S. Don't get injured

Bet Smart: Week 14 - 16

My betting situation is now equivalent to a car crash. A whirlwind of crazy bets leave me with nearly 50% of the original pot. The exact amount is not known as my refusal to face up to reality might change my luck somwhat. Ok it is around $50. Enough. Let's analyze this weekend's games.

With hardly much cash to spare, $5 bets are the way to go. $5 on a Chelsea 3-0 win (6.70) over Wigan may seem ridiculous. But given Chelsea's clean sheets recently and Wigan's poor form, 3 goals shouldn't be a problem. Some might point to the fact that Wigan has only conceded 5-7 goals away all season. But this is Stamford Bridge and Wigan will be spanked. And Dave Whelan should stop calling for salary caps for players. Who cares about your rugby crap. Who cares what you think. Sucka.

My other bet would be on a Bolton 2-1 win against Aston Villa. Villa should have the strikers back for this game. Philips and Baros are excellent goal poachers. But Villa has a lack of squad depth, and with Bolton on a high after beating Wenger's Arsenal last weekend, Allardyce should have no problems against Aston Villa.

Still On Top

Since spanking Rovers 4-2, Chelsea dropped into a small blip. A dis-spirited 1-0 lost to Betis and a 0-1 away lost at Old Trafford earned us a lot of crap from the media. They of course need no 2nd invitation to piss on us when we’re down. Therefore crushing Newcastle, Anderlecht and Portsmouth after that was the perfect answer to these jabronis. Keeping 3 clean sheets along the way was also good.

A few issues need to be addressed. First being the squad strength and depth.

At present, Makelele is out. Crespo has an injured rib, Drogba’s knee still hurts from the international games. Robben is unfit. Glen Johnson is injured as well. Our defence is strong as there is adequate cover at RB with Ferreira/Geremi. Left back has Bridge/Del Horno. Cb has Huth, Carvalho, Terry. Gallas can play everywhere across. Midfield is worrying as Makelele is out and Essien provides cover. Once Essien and Drogba leave for the African Nations Cup, Diarra might have to fill in if Makelele is still injury prone. If Eidur plays the 3rd midfielder, up front will leave us with Carlton Cole if Crespo is injured. Not a lot of cover going forward. Wingers are healthy but it is unlikely Joe Cole will play the 3rd midfield role while we push Eidur forward as a striker. It seems we need another midfielder. And in my opinion, recall Smertin. And maybe a striker judging by the way Carlton Cole played recently. Maybe he needs some time adjusting to the first team. And he deserves a chance to prove himself as we have seen what he was capable of before he went on loan.

George Best is dead. Too bad he has never played at the World Cup else he could have been as famous as Maradona... who in my opinion is the best there ever was. Not Pele. He just scores many goals. Maradona is skillful and deadly. And uses his hands when necessary.

Roy Keane leaves Man United. Because he knows Man United is on the decline. There is a shift in power and Chelsea is right up there by a country-mile. They can’t catch up without spending more money on better players. If Chelsea were to get fucked 4-1 by Boro, Mourinho would be sacked. Roy Keane is the only Man United player I respect. Because he is a leader and a fighter, doing everything for the team. And when others around him slack he will eat him alive. He belongs to the era of old school fighters together with Dennis Wise, Vieira and any other ex-players from Leeds.

There are a lot of glory hunters out there. Back when Chelsea was called a team of individuals and losing to the likes of Bradford and ST Gallen, Chelsea supporters like myself had to put up with taunts and crap from rival fans. Now everyone is a Chelsea fan. Its good that the fan base is growing, but to switch clubs because the club is successful? Suddenly Samsung Mobile jerseys appear everywhere. I’m sure these jokers do not even know who Winston Bogarde is. Not that he deserves to be remembered anyway. More because we fans need to know where we come from. It is easy to tell who the new fans are. They are the impatient ones. They have grown accustomed to the success during the Abramovich era that they cannot tolerate failure. Losing or draw is unacceptable to them. The older fans know the pain it took to come all this way. Chelsea will not win forever. Mourinho will not be here forever. Neither will Abramovich. As any old-school pessimistic Chelsea fan would tell you: Blue is the Color. Football is the game. Enjoy our success while it lasts.

Bet Smart: Week 13

I think it is time to feel sorry for myself.

A strong $10 bet on Arsenal winning 3-1 (9.50) and a $10 bet on a Chelsea 0-3 win (6.50) yielded nothing. The final scores were close at 3-0 and 0-2 respectively so it is down to rotten luck as usual. No panic though.

The pot is at a low of $73.40. Not alarming just yet but worrying nonetheless.

Bet Smart: Week 12

Always reckless when abandunt resources are at hand, I had decided to foolishly back a $10 Newcastle 2-1 win (8.00) and both a $5 on Blackburn draw (2.90) and 2-1 Arsenal win (7.00). Granted that the Blackburn game was lost fair and square, I still resent the fact that Arsenal HAD TO score another to put me out of my misery. Basing my predictions on merely choosing the ones with nice odds, the pot has suffered and slimmed down to a bare $99.90

Another post will be up regarding Chelsea's blip over a period of 5 games in 14 days.

Carling Cup Review

Carling Cup is but a wake up call to all the Chelsea players. It is disgusting to be knocked out so early despite being Cup winners last season. Our strikers are firing blanks but they created some problems for the Charlton defence. But Robben had been painfully selfish.

He loves to dribble. But whenever he feels he has lost it, he would pass at the last minute thus deceiving both opponents and team mates. Joe Cole is a much better player... a team player. At least when he is selfish he is effective. Robben pales in comparison to his 1st season here. And he is seldom involved with defensive duties unlike Cole, SWP and Duff. Probably for fear of injuries: which is very poor attitude in my opinion. Geremi was not effective as well playing in the midfield role. Playing RB suits him better. Crespo does not have any physical presence unlike Drogba who pisses off opponents. Gudjohnsen had some good play, dropping deep to collect (like Lampard) and tries to create something. But Charlton defended solidly. And a solid defence is what gets you to the top of the table. Huth single-handedly lost the game for us. Although the final penalty was always 50:50 and not entirely his fault, his back header to Cudicini was a nightmare. Although one can argue that we could not break down Charlton's defence for 2 hours, mistakes like this should not happen at this level. This is not the display to show the world after Everton's draw.

My 2nd concern is that now that there is no Carling Cup to play for, Geremi, Glen, Gudjohnsen, Huth, Cudicini, Diarra, Bridge and Carlton Cole might have less playing time. My only hope is that we would progress far in the FA Cup to give them a chance to prove themselves. To be realistic I do not think much of the FA Cup. Give me the EPL League Trophy and the Champions League title any day.

I'm too moody for any further analysis. Let's win at Blackburn and break Dickov's legs.

Bet Smart: Week 11

A brilliant bet on both a 1-1 scoreline and a draw on the Man United game last week saw a huge payout and boosted my capital to $114.50. Chelsea drew with Everton and lost to Charlton in the Carling Cup thus completing a truly moody week for me. A win against Rovers this week would definitely cheer me up.

This week Newcastle is level ball (again!) against West Brom. I think however this round they will overcome the odds. But I detest Newcastle entirely because of Souness. And I can't wait to see them get relegated together with Liverpool.

Feeling chirpy after the windfall last week, I would be so bold as to predict a 1-2 (13.00) Fulham away win against Wigan. At 13/1 it is too tempting to ignore. This bet would be $10. Wigan has won enough. The fairytale of being at the top half of the table for a newly promoted team will end soon and it will begin this week.

Boring boring Arsenal is without Henry. And probably has to rely on a penalty to get any points. Spurs will park a goddamn bus in front of goal so a sensible bet would be $5 on a draw (3.08) My gut tells me Arsenal will win it though. And the goal will come from Bergkamp.

Rovers will suffer a backlash from Chelsea. Makelele returns with Del Horno so losing is out of the question. I think a 1-0 win would do but feeling overly-adventurous I will go for a $5 bet on a 2-1 (8.50) win. And Drogba to score and assist (ie. fall over easily and kio free kicks).

Am I insane? Well I'm $14.50 above my original capital and I have every right to be.

Liverpool sucks. And this time it is real.

Bet Smart: Week 10

The problem with putting all the money from the pot in a single ang pow for good luck is that money will be prone to go missing. Somehow I managed to lose $10. It is inexcusable. What the hell. It means I have to manually feed in from my own pocket.

Last week was a disaster. Despite correctly predicting a Wigan upset, I still lost everything. A lousy deflected Man United goal, a single Cisse strike and Everton failing to score condemned the official pot to a sad $82. I expected a 3-0 rampage against Bolton but it ended up 5-1. But in this case I'm not complaining.

This week, after careful analysis, I've decided on the following bets to try and salvage some pride:

1. Birmingham has yet to win in their last few games despite several draws. Rather uninventive going forward. A draw is favourable but I'm going to be brave. So based on absolutely nothing at all, I will place a $5 on a 2-1 Rovers win (7.50).

2. Aston Villa has won enough in my opinion. Wigan is beginning to find some form but they will fall into mid-table mediocrity soon. Plus both will feature in the Carling Cup matches in a few days time so a $5 draw (3.00) is likely to provide some returns.

2. Spurs has no Carling Cup game in mid-week. Man United lost Giggs to some foul play in Europe. Roy Keane has given up (so has Henry). Spurs are finding form but Man United still has Silvestre to save Ferdinand's ass everytime. Plus 2 Koreans fighting it out should be entertaining. So it will be $5 each on a draw (3.33) and a 1-1 outcome ($7.20). The 1-2 scoreline is at a tempting 1:16. If I find $5 on the floor later I will bet on this.

I need a new place to store my winnings. I will visit Daiso in IMM soon to kio some cheap containers.

Bet Smart: Week 9

And we're back. Let's face it: international week was boring. Kezman and Torres were in hot scoring form... and I think the Serbs are gonna go far this World Cup together with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Germany. I'm backing the Germans to win the World Cup because: 1. They are the host country so a quarter final place is guaranteed and 2. I'm sure their odds as winners will pay well, much better than Spain, Argentina or Holland.

On to the weekend's bets. At current time Newcastle vs Wigan is level ball. A deadly trap going on there (after suffering at Lyon vs Real Madrid). I will avoid at all cost.

Bet A: Man United will win Sunderland as Arca is likely to be out. I will put a $5 on a 1-2 scoreline (9.00) although a 0-1 is more likely.

Bet B: Next, Everton is crap now. I will dump a $5 on Spurs 2-1 win (7.50). Moyes is fucked. I remember Ipswich were in the same Champions league-cum-relegation position a while back. No Intertoto Cup for you as well.

Bet C: International week might have been our downfall for past seasons. But we have the depth in squad to cope (or according to TNP: shitloads of money). Carlton Cole will be on the bench to add firepower and height to our strikeforce. I smell a 3-0 victory (I'm delirious I know. What the hell it is just $5 and the odds are 7.00). I'm fucking pissed as well to find out that this game will be on delayed telecast. I suppose watching Arsenal crap all over West Brom is entertaining to the cable operators. Our game against Villa was also not shown. I don't get it at all. These fools are pissing all over our league trophy.

Bet D: $5 on a Liverpool draw (3.50). Rovers are strong as demonstrated by their win over Man United. And they are dirty fighters. Liverpool has scored only 4 so far. Cisse on the right flank? I want what Rafa is smoking. I think Will Mellor will score more than Crouch if given the chance. European champions eh? Suck my ballz.

I'm going for high returns and barely sane choices this round. I'm feeling adventurous and fortune always favors the brave.

Forza Crespo!