UEFA Champions League

Let's review.  Manchester City needed to beat Bayern Munich to have any chance of advancing out of Group A.  They did, but it didn't matter.  Napoli won, so they will join Bayern in the knockout stages.  Both will be threats in the next round, although the Germans are probably joint favorites to win the tournament.  City will be disappointed, but it may be better for the club in the long run.  They can now focus on domestic matters, and I believe they will win the league.  They also have a very good chance to win the Europa League.  It is not the European trophy they wanted, but it could give them substantial momentum going into next season's Champion's League.

CSKA Moscow ended up joining Internazionale in the next round.  Neither looks likely to go very far.  Inter are old and slow, CSKA are short on talent.  All evidence of Group B will be disposed off very shortly.

I thought Group C would make a splash, and it did.  Manchester United join their neighbors in the Europa League, Benfica and FC Basel go through.  Neither have a chance of winning the trophy, but both are frisky enough that other clubs will want to avoid them.  Rosters that are old and slow will have particular problems with these two.  The aforementioned Inter Milan will desperately want to avoid FC Basel.

Ajax lost and Lyon won by a combined 9 goals.  Group D was left in chaos.  Real Madrid are co-favorites to lift the trophy in May, Lyon looked dead a few days ago.   But now the French club have a few months to regroup and maybe even add some talent to the squad.  I predict Arsenal will draw Lyon in the next round.

Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen go through in Group E.  There were some twists and turns, but this was what most expected way back in August.

Same with Arsenal and Marseille.  A few surprises in Group F, but ultimately what we all knew was inevitable.

Group G give us Apoel Nicosia and Zenit St. Petersburg.  Both are both nice stories, but the fairy take should end after the round of 16.

Group H was the most predictable of all.  Barcelona are favorites to defend their title, and AC Milan have finally gotten younger after many years of futility with an aging squad.  The Italians are probably not a threat to Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they may be in a year or two.

Tomorrow's draw will give us a good idea of who might be a surprise entrant to the last eight, and who might have their European adventure ended prematurely.

UEFA Champions League Groups

There is only 1 match left in the group stages, and though several question marks remain, most of the big boys have assured themselves of advancement to the round of 16.  Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Barcelona are through as group winners.  That's 5 spots.  AC Milan have also qualified.  No surprises there.

Group A looked difficult from the outset, and despite Villareal's performance, has lived up to its billing.  Napoli play Villareal in Spain, and while it is no sure thing, the Italians seem likely to get at least a point there.  That means, in order to advance in their first Champions League appearance, Manchester City have to defeat high-flying Bayern Munich.  The game is in Manchester, and already-qualified Bayern may rest some players, but the Blues are still behind the 8 ball at this point.  It may be Europa League for them.

UEFA Champions League-Bayern Munich v Manchester City

Champions League returns today, and the marquee match-up features the pedigree of Bayern and the pocketbook of Man City.  There are big names all over the pitch, inlcuding on the bench, as Arjen Robben and Carlos Tevez will not feature from the start. 

For me the most important player on the German side is Bastian Schweinsteiger.  He has to control the match from central midfield if Bayern are to get a result.   The movement of Man City's front 4 (David Silva, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Sergio Aguerro) is sublime, and Munich's suspect backline will be eviscerated if their midfield maestro cannot effectively shield them.  That's only half the job though.  Everything Bayern do going forward is also dependent upon Schweinsteiger.  Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Mario Gomez and Toni Kroos provide great movement and skill in their own right, but they can't create without number 31 pulling the strings.  I thought he was the player of the tournament at the 2010 World Cup, ahead of even Xavi and Iniesta, and he will need to put in that type of performance tonight. 

Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure will be charged with stopping the Bayern leader.  I just chuckled a bit.  We may see Nigel de Jong relatively early on in this one.  I just don't think Schweinsteiger can do it though.  Man City just have too many threats.  2-1 to the blues, an impressive away win.

Great Match!

Shame about the result.  Bolton lost, yes, but they did present themselves in an admirable manner, particularly in the last 30 minutes.

And no, I do not know what the hell Jussi Jaaskelainen was doing on the Silva goal.  Sometimes a goalkeeper, no matter how reliable, just has a howler.  Normally I don't talk about fashion on the blog, but the new home keeper's shirt is just atrocious.  Hot pink?  What is this, a Poison concert in 1987?

For me, the most impressive performance was that of Martin Petrov.  That was why we signed him.  When he is fit and on form, he is still one of the best wingers in the league.  Now, he is not going to be that good, especially for 90 minutes, in all 38 league matches this season.  But if he can keep putting in those types of crosses fairly consistently, he is going to create a lot of goals for us.  His accuracy of passing, combined with Ivan Klasnic's finishing skills, will create a lot of goals for Bolton Wanderers this season.

Next is a Carling Cup match with Macclesfield, followed by a visit to "high-flying" Liverpool.  Given the lack of squad depth at Bolton, it will be interesting to see if Owen Coyle presents an opportunity to some of our really young players Wednesday, or mostly sticks to the first team.

Preview-Bolton Wanderers v Manchester City

Bolton and Man City are both coming off big 4-0 wins last weekend, but the ability of the two clubs to maintain those types of performances is, of course, quite different.

The match is at the Reebok, but so far this season home teams have not faired very well.  This fixture also starts a very difficult run for the Trotters.  After City, there is an early midweek Carling Cup tie against Macclesfield.  I would say this will give some of the fringe players a chance to impress, but given our injury list and relatively lean squad, there are not a whole lot of fringe players to use.  Either way, Macclesfield should be dealt with.  Maybe Tuncay Sanli will get his first start, and that will be reason enough to tune in.

That's when it gets tricky.  Bolton are away at Liverpool next weekend, and while I don't believe the Merseyside club is a title challenger, they are unlikely to allow the Wanderers to pick up 3 points.  The international break is then followed by a visit from Manchester United.  United will probably win via an Own Goal, a penalty, a dodgy sending off, and 11 minutes of stoppage time.

FA Cup Semi-finals

Some of you may have noticed that the headline for this post has an -s at the end.  Yes, it is plural.  There are actually two FA Cup matches this weekend.

Now, it is no surprise that the Manchester Derby has received more coverage, it is certainly more of a glamour tie than Stoke v Bolton.  However, I have watched some recent sports news from the UK today, and the first match got all the coverage.

Normally this type of thing doesn't bother me, but this match at Wembley is a big deal for Stoke and Bolton, and to not even get a mention on a 60 minute sports news program seems awfully disrespectful.

Martin Petrov

It's a big match for the Bulgarian winger against his former club.  He left under a black cloud, and he was not shy about criticizing the weatherman.  Petrov had some problems with injuries while at Eastlands, but he was always impressive when he was able to get on the pitch.  I am sure he is dying to prove a point this Saturday, but it is up to Owen Coyle to decide how Petrov can do so most effectively for the team.

Petrov generally doesn't play 90 minutes.  He has only completed one game in nine starts for Bolton this season.  To be fair he has competed all three that he has started for Bulgaria, so he is certainly fit enough to play the whole match if need be.  Coyle has to make the decision on how to best use Petrov's energy and emotion.  Will he start him, hoping that he can create mayhem straight on from kickoff, or will he save him for the 60th minute, an impact sub in the last half hour of what promises to be a close, hard-fought match.

Manchester City

Bolton will be visiting Eastlands this weekend, and it will be an interesting clash of styles between the Wanderers and the Citizens.  Bolton have shown themselves to be an attacking, free-flowing offensive club this season.  Man City, on the other hand, have been a very defensive-minded group, a tactical philosophy which has generated a lot of criticism for manager Roberto Mancini.

Just park in front of the goal...

City have 26 points from 15 matches, Bolton have 23, but they have gained their points in very different manners.  Bolton have outscored their opponents, a leaky defense allowing 22 goals, yet scoring for themselves 28 times, fourth most in the league, and only one goal behind mighty Chelsea.  Manchester City have only scored 20 goals, middle of the pack, but they have conceded a miserly 12 goals, 2 more than Chelsea, but 4 less than anyone else.

Manchester City

There has been a lot of criticism of Roberto Mancini's tactics the first couple weeks of the season, and I have to say I don't particularly care for what he is trying to do, but I can at least see what his plan is. He is putting the emphasis on defense and possession. Apparently, his mindset is something along the lines of, "We have the talent to score whenever we want, and that is what the impact substitutes will be used for, but our first priority is keeping clean sheets."

In actuality, Man City's system is very similar to Chelsea in their final season under Jose Mourinho, the height of the "boring, boring Chelsea" era. The ingredient that Man City is missing in this comparison is Frank Lampard. All of their central midfielders are defensive, there is no one pushing up right behind the striker and chipping in with goals from late runs into the box. Against Liverpool today, both Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry (pictured) appeared to get forward more than one would expect, but neither is ideal for that role.

Once a club reaches the talent level that the Blues have, so much depends on mindset. And all Mancini wants them to think about is preventing goals, retaining possession, and scoring when they need to do so. There are going to be games like today, where they put several chances away, but we will see a lot more 1-0 than 3-2 at Eastlands this season. Eventually they will have to find the equivalent of a Lampard, a Steven Gerrard, a Cesc Fabregas, or a Paul Scholes, that is, an attacking central midfielder who scores goals as well as creating chances for teammates. This club is going to win a lot of matches this season, and probably will qualify for the Champion's League for next season, but they are not going to win the lead until they get that big piece in central midfield.

Champions League Hopefuls (Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City)

This match was a good opener to the season. Really end-to-end attacking stuff, especially early on.

Tottenham looked the much better side on the first half, and really should have gotten a goal, but Man City's defense held firm. This may not have been very surprising, as Roberto Mancini chose to play three holding midfielders in a very defensive formation. His tactics owed very much to the "We don't want to lose" school of management.

I think these clubs will both finish in the top five, and one of them could even push up into the top three. Here is what I took from their performance yesterday though. In their first match of the season, at home, against a big rival for fourth place, Spurs came out on fire, which they really should do. But they couldn't convert that into three points. Man City, on the other hand, were composed, withstood the early siege, grew more into the match as the second half went on, and got a good point away from home against an important rival, and they nearly stole all three points late, thanks to the ability to bring sheer quality such as Emanuel Adebayor and Adam Johnson off the bench.

As far as the managers go, I think Roberto Mancini has it all over Harry Redknapp tactically, although when it comes to motivating players for one match, 'arry probably has the edge.

To sum up, Spurs gave a quality performance fitting for a club whose ambitions include Champion's League football. Man City gave a composed and gritty performance, fitting for a club who might be ready to challenge for the Premier League title.

World Cup Transfers

Just as reliable as the tournament itself, is the rush of big clubs to buy up players who impressed while playing for their country.

One of the first up, Pablo Barrera, a 23-year-old Mexican winger who plays for UNAM in Mexico. Of course, Mexico have a deep pool of talented youngsters who love to attack, and Barrera didn't even make the starting XI, he was used as a substitute in three of their four matches. Yet he is still being chased by West Ham, Lazio, Espanyol, and Celtic. Barrera looks to be a good prospect, and he will not be too expensive, but he will be more than he was a month ago.

A good signing was announced a few weeks ago by Manchester City. I have to say, for all the complaints about Manchester City throwing their money around, it's difficult to point to specific signings and say they were bad. Even the ones that have turned out poorly (Robinho, Bojinov) I thought were justifiable at the time. City signed Jerome Boateng from Hamburg in Germany for about £12 million. Considering that he has played well for Germany, and Germany have been outstanding in getting to the semi-final, City saved themselves a substantial amount of money by signing him before the tournament started.

I must admit though, the Yaya Toure signing does perplex me a bit. The fee of £24 million is a little high for a holding midfielder, but not crazy, as he is a very good player. What I don't understand is why they would sign Toure when they already have Nigel de Jong, Vincent Kompany, Gareth Barry, and Patrick Vierra in the same role.

The red half of Manchester enjoyed similar good fortune, as United's signing, Mexican forward Javier Hernandez, scored two goals and showed himself to be possibly the fastest player at the World Cup. He cost £10 million, and looked like a very good prospect at the tournament. By agreeing to this deal in April, Manchester United probably saved around £5 million. Which is good, because I think the Chris Smalling signing from Fulham is an absolute waste of £8 million.

I am sure more World Cup signings will come down in the next few weeks, as the players return home from South Africa, but that is what we have for now.

Loan Players

Jack Wilshere and Vladimir Weiss both spent the second half of the season with Bolton Wanderers thanks to loan deals from their parent clubs, Arsenal and Manchester City, respectively. Both are very young, and were not going to feature on clubs challenging for the league title and a Champions League spot. That statement will still be true next season, and that is what makes this interesting.

Owen Coyle has already stated that he would like to keep both players for another year.

Jack Wilshere has said he would be open to returning for another season if he cannot get into Arsenal's first team over the summer. Wilshere is very good, but he is at least a year away from starting for a team of Arsenal's caliber. I think the chances of Wilshere playing for Bolton next season are very good.

The situation is murkier where Vladimir Weiss is concerned. He was in the squad every week, and appeared in most matches, though sometimes not until very late. Two weeks ago he stated that he was very disappointed at his lack of opportunities and was looking forward to returning to Manchester City. Then he played a great second half against Stoke City and started the match against Portsmouth. Maybe he has softened his stance on returning after that.

Weiss and Lee Chung-Yong are very similar players. I am not sure if Lee is better, but he is certainly more experienced. I think his presence will probably be enough to prevent Weiss returning to The Reebok next season.