gone missing

after the $1.65 billion sale of youtube to google, it seems copyright people in the sunny valley have stepped up their game...makes sense, as all those legal issues will likely be scrutinized and monitored from this point on. if you ever read this blog, you'd know what i'm talking about: the youtube videos i used of fox soccer channel's fox sports world report are nowhere to be found, my trusty youtube member named 'splaytpus' has had his/her account suspended, and i haven't been able to find a back-up, which i don't think exists...

probably something to do with foxcorp. + rup murdoch retaliating because they couldn't take over the world by owning the mega's of the social networking revolution*: youtube and myspace.

*also known as the world's largest possible focus group

so, my advice to you all, if you enjoyed watching 'the award-winning' world report illegally on the net, best get yourself a cable package that includes fox soccer channel, and help murdoch inch closer in conquering the footie market. at least you'd be supporting jeremy st. louis, mitch peacock (still the most laughable 'stage' news reporter names i have come across to date) and the rest of the world report production team up there in canada by giving them some much needed exposure.

unfortunate, that, fox likes to hold onto these passing things when MIT will put all of the educational materials from it's undergraduate- and graduate-level courses online, free and openly available to anyone, anywhere, by the year 2007. now that's a copyright mess for the already underpaid academics and their peers (unless you are daniel goleman).

sorry no soccer updates, like henry's thriling performance or west ham's continued plummit. read about it yourself.

needed update

seven weeks of gameplay have passed, and i've (we've) had enough time to observe many of the lineup changes and transfers in the premiership. so i'll start to reflect on a few of them that i found puzzling thus far, hoping you others can fill in some of the gaps.

where is shevchenko?
its been a disenchanting premiership-shakedown for shevchenko. and while one's acheivements in five matches may not be the same tune played all season, it can be said that andriy's early on performance has been less than innervating in chelsea's 4-1 start (his lone goal this season coming in chelsea's 2-1 loss to middlesbrough). and while shevi grapples to find his footing and style of play in the premiership, drogba continues to demonstrate his ability to be uniformly potent, scoring four goals in five games. see, in what i've seen, shevchenko's play has been all hardscrabble: a lot of effort and movement, but lack of ball control, playing on the margins, and not really fitting into the blue's offense like he should, which in the end gets him nowhere. i guess i shouldn't broadside shevchenko, but even if it is hard to score, i know he can find ways to score, its his gift. and that is why chelsea signed him: to score lots and lots of pretty goals to make all the (rich) fans cheer for the blues, to make the blues a more 'european' team that can compete for the champions league title. none of this has happened, and his minutes have and will diminish as a result. kalou and drogba upfront in an ivory coast connection?
i will say this in defense of shevchenko: perhaps his inherence on the field causes teams to focus more on containing the yellow peril, causally freeing up copious amounts of space and time for drogba to find the back of the net game after game. after all, chelsea are still winning as usual, so until things start becoming a bit more unusual, i would start to worry that shevchenko isn't the right fit for the blues or for the english premier league.

wo ist ballack?
perhaps abromavich's summer investments really aren't panning out at the moment. ballack was sent off last match against liverpool for stomping on liverpool's sissoko--ballack's frustration getting the best of him as his season has been even worse than shevchenko's. like his world cup performances, where at times you wondered where exactly he was in the game, ballack enjoys taking the back seat and letting essien, lampard, and makelele do the work. no goals, no assists, marginal minutes played, he doesn't seem to be fitting either.

counter-example: gamst pederson
a poor start to the season can be thwarted in one game. the norwegian was silent in his first four games of the season for blackburn, but in the six goal thriller against manchester city at ewood park, pederson finally netted his first of the season, and assisted on two goals as his team edged out man city 4-2. pederson was one of blackburn's key threats last season, and serves as an example that both ballack and shevchenko (who can be threats) could burst out at any given moment.

where have all the great footballers gone? read more.

transfer window closes

it is somewhat refreshing to see someone redefine the language of this blog, so thanks to chris (and i'm taking notes)..now, to the mad rush that took place before the sept. 1 closing of the premiership transfer window. it yields some notably interesting and perhaps less talked about international additions to the premier league. here's a handfull of additions i found to be worth the attention, a caesura of sorts:

Newcastle: after joining newcastle on august 24, martins (nigeria: born 1984) has embraced the toon army with alacrity or perhaps a bit of premier league over-zealousness, who debuted with a 2-0 loss aston villa and subsequent removal from the game due to a knee injury. stay keen to how he develops with the team, especially how he combines (or fails to) up front with ameobi.
ADD
Obafemi Martins [Inter Milan - Newcastle] £10.1m

Bolton: the iranian born (1983) teimourian as a rising national icon: ...[as a] member [of the] Iranian national team during 2006 World Cup, [p]ictures of an emotionally and physically drained Teymourian at the end of Iran's last game of the 2006 World Cup have begun to take the shape of Iranian football's most notable photograph from the event. Teymourian dropped to the grass and began sobbing while trainers attended to him. He has started to be recognised as a national hero in Iran because of the passion he showed for his country in the 2006 World Cup...(source: wikipedia).
ADD
Andranik Teimourian [Abu Moslem - Bolton] Undisclosed

Middlesbrough: woodgate (born 1980 in middlesbrough, uk, defender), huth (born 1983 in germany, defender) and euell (jamaican/english, 1977, forward) are the coda to middlesbrough's summer transfers, a scattered attempt to recover from early season inconsistencies: the historic win over chelsea, a 4-0 loss to portsmouth, and poor debut against reading. the woodgate homecoming and additional experience to the back line should help to assuage the malcontent australian keeper mark schwarzer.
ADD
Jonathan Woodgate [Real Madrid - Middlesbrough] Loan
Robert Huth [Chelsea - Middlesbrough] £6m
Jason Euell [Charlton - Middlesbrough] Undisclosed

Aston Villa: a brilliant start (7 pts in 3 games) in times of trouble for villa, plus the apposite addition of petrov (born 1979 in bulgaria): a note to the rather interesting eastern europe to premiership trend. it seems paradoxical that the premiership only becomes more international as certain east europe/african coutries show signs of economic recovery/stability (only now?) . perhpas petrov is a thinking man or bulgarian charlatan(no--he's a spartan)? a thought to consider with the publication of his autobiography, you can call me stan: the stiliyan petrov story.
ADD
Stiliyan Petrov [Celtic - Aston Villa] £6.5m

West Ham: with a brazilian connection to corinthians, west ham first and foremost aim to groom argentian carlos tevez, likely aiming to help craft him his own free-flowing playing style. with the move, i vote west ham remains the academy for the premiership (tevez born in 1984). tevez ran a spell with boca juniors and is currently regarded as one of the most promising prospects in the world (source: wikipedia). his combination with league leader (4 goals) bobby zamora should yield interesting results for west ham's offense. i see tevez as replacement/option/alternative to marlon harewood's time on the field, with harewood's lack-luster and unproductive beginnings.
ADD
Carlos Tevez [Corinthians - West Ham] Undisclosed
Marek Stech [Sparta Prague - West Ham] Undisclosed
Javier Mascherano [Corinthians - West Ham] Undisclosed

Portsmouth
ADD
Manuel Fernandes [Benfica - Portsmouth] Loan
Niko Kranjcar [Hajduk Split - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Roudolphe M'Bela Douala [Sporting Lison - Portsmouth] Loan
Andrew Cole [Man City - Portsmouth] £500,000
SUBTRACT
Svetoslav Todorov [Portsmouth - Wigan] Loan

Wigan
ADD
Svetoslav Todorov [Portsmouth - Wigan] Loan
SUBTRACT
Pascal Chimbonda [Wigan - Tottenham] Undisclosed

Fulham
ADD
Wayne Routledge [Tottenham - Fulham] Loan
Jan Lastuvka [Shakhtar Donetsk - Fulham] Loan
SUBTRACT
Steed Malbranque [Fulham - Tottenham] Undisclosed

Liverpool
SUBTRACT
Florent Sinama Pongolle [Liverpool - Recreativo de Huelva] Loan
Jan Kromkamp [Liverpool - PSV Eindhoven] Undisclosed

Charlton
ADD
Omar Pouso [Penarol - Charlton] Loan
SUBTRACT
Jason Euell [Charlton - Middlesbrough] Undisclosed

Arsenal
ADD
Denilson [Sao Paulo - Arsenal] £3.4m
Julio Baptista [Real Madrid - Arsenal] Loan
William Gallas [Chelsea - Arsenal]
SUBTRACT
Ashley Cole [Arsenal - Chelsea] £5m + William Gallas
Pascal Cygan [Arsenal - Villarreal] £2m
Jose Antonio Reyes [Arsenal - Real Madrid] Loan

Tottenham
ADD
Steed Malbranque [Fulham - Tottenham] Undisclosed
Pascal Chimbonda [Wigan - Tottenham] Undisclosed
SUBTRACT
Rodrigo Defendi [Tottenham - Roma] Loan
Wayne Routledge [Tottenham - Fulham] Loan

Chelsea
ADD
Ashley Cole [Arsenal - Chelsea] £5m + William Gallas
SUBTRACT
William Gallas [Chelsea - Arsenal]
Robert Huth [Chelsea - Middlesbrough] £6m

Manchester City
ADD
DaMarcus Beasley [PSV Eindhoven - Manchester City] Loan
SUBTRACT
Andrew Cole [Man City - Portsmouth] £500,000

The Observer 'Interview' with Andriy Shevchenko

James Eve 'interviews' new Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko.

It is odd to call it an interview because there are very few quotes from Shevchenko himself. It is more of an article written after the interview, but the tone of the written words give the interview a tangible existence at least. For all of you sport psychologists out there, this gives a feel of how Sheva might perform in the Premiership, if you believe in that sort of thing. For me personally, it puts a nice perspective on the transformation process of eastern european stars in western culture. Mainly because it reaches outside of American soil for once. It never felt right trying to get into the mindset of Sergei Federov or Pavel Bure in the early nineties because the fall of communism was so fresh in their rearview mirror. But Shevchenko has a good decade behind him (sort of like living in the 70's era U.S., but without the disco and keener fashion design with his Armani friendship). It is no wonder he is considered such a national hero in Ukraine, and I would wager in the rest of the Russian (former or present) speaking world despite spending nearly the last decade in western Europe. I will go no further in this evaluation this evening, but if anyone truly cares, give me a telephone call or an electronic mail and we can discuss the implications of all of this.

In other news, Alberto and I upgraded to digital cable finally to specifically watch the Fox Soccer Channel. (Thanks to Time Warner for stepping into the fold to replace the struggling and inept Adelphia/Comcast) Last night we watched the replay of the Chelsea v. Blackburn match for the FanZone. I am not sure if this is a normal broadcast, but at one in the morning, it is quite a delight watching the game and listening to two fans from the opposing sides commentating and emails scrolling through the lower third ticker. I suggest everyone watch out for this when perusing the Channel.

transfers and no gameweek review

recent transfers

23 august
Andre Ooijer [PSV Eindhoven - Blackburn] Undisclosed
Lloyd Sam [Charlton - Sheff Wed] Loan
Kasper Schmeichel [Man City - Bury] Loan

22 august
Kevin Phillips [Aston Villa - West Brom] £700,000

Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko will be out of action for two weeks after injuring his left knee during the Champions League match against Maccabi Haifa, the English club said on Wednesday.

archaeopteryx transfers / gameweek 2 (transferred out player listed first)

académie de troit
[Garcia (8.5) - Gamst Pedersen (9.0)]

ye olde speckled hen
[Kishishev ( 4.5) - Bridge (4.5)]
[Neill (5.0) - Campbell (5.0)]
[Young (5.0) - Mellberg (5.0)]

steak
[Van Persie ( 9.0) - Crouch (9.0)]
[Bouazza (5.5) - Zamora (6.0)]
[Shevchenko (12.0) - Ameobi (7.5)]
[Henry (14.0) - Van Persie ( 9.0)]
[Walton (4.5) - Gerrard (10.5)]
[Stubbs (4.0) - Taylor (5.5)]
[Volz (4.5) - Campbell (5.0)]
[Hibbert (5.0) - Mellberg (5.0)]
[Baines (4.5) - Johnson (5.0)]