Manchesters Tie

Manchester United and Manchester City lost points this weekend, each tying to a team who they both argue they could've beaten. Manchester United was dominating Newcastle yet tied 1-1. In the last ten minutes Jonas got a red card and Man U bombarded the Newcastle goal. Tim Krul had the best day of his career however. He could have saved everything while standing on his head. He should be the starting goalkeeper for Holland over Marten Stekelenburg. In Anfield Manchester City tied Liverpool 1-1. Despite the Liverpool goal being an own goal from Joleon Lescott, Liverpool dominated the game and after Mario Balotelli got sent off in the 84th minute, Liverpool should have finished the game. Joe Hart though saved the day and kept Manchester City from losing. Manchester United should feel disappointed that they did not catch up to Manchester City a little bit this weekend and Manchester City should feel happy that they even got points. The happiest team though will be Tottenham. If they win their game in hand they will be 1 point up on Manchester United and just 4 points back of Manchester City. This looks to be an exciting year.

Champions League Roundup

       Currently the best team in England and they could not beat Napoli. That is just insane. Manchester City can't seem to perform in Europe because they have been subpar in the Champions League. It seems as if they won't even make it to the knockout round. Only if Napoli ties or loses to Villareal and Manchester City wins over Bayern Munich will Manchester City be able to advance. Sorry Roberto Mancini, you didn't do a good enough job. In other Champions League news, Inter has clinched first place in their group with a comfortable win over Trabzonspor, who is currently in second, 1 point ahead of Lille and CSKA Moscow. In that group I think Lille will make it because they are going head to head with Trabzonspor at home while CSKA Moscow is at San Siro. In Group C Manchester United is ahead of Benfica on goal differential. FC Basel is behind both of them by 1 point. I'm going to say that Benfica is finishing in first, facing Otelul in their final match while I think Man U will finish second by tying Basel. Remember, Man U is without Rooney and haven't been in great form. Group D is all Real Madrid and Ajax there are no ifs, ands, ors or buts. Group E I think will be Chelsea on top despite their recent poor form and Valencia in second. Valencia played well against Real the other night and are looking good. Group F I think is Arsenal then Marseille seeing that Arsenal beat Marseille in the 1st fixture. In Group G Apoel Nicosia has played great football and Porto have choked. I think Apoel will finish (dare I say it) 1st and Zenit St. Petersburg second. In Group H it's Barcelona and then AC Milan, Barcelona should've won the first game anyways.

Financial Fair Play

There are many theories of what should be done. Some are radical in that teams should be removed from European competitions and others are sensible. What should be the case is that each team needs to get out of debt first. No team should be able to pay money they do not have. That doesn't mean they can't make long term contracts based on money they do not have but it means they cannot bid on players and promise them money they do not have. When a team makes a profit the owner should be in charge of how much money is put into transfer and salary spending. Once that is resolved the manager or the owner bids on players with that money. They also need to be sure that the contract the player is solving can be paid off by the end of his contract. If he gets transferred in the middle of his contract that is the other team's business. Teams like Barcelona shouldn't be getting Alexis Sanchez if they are in millions of dollars of debt. Manchester United shouldn't have been able to get De Gea, Ashley Young or Phil Jones seeing as they are in tons of debt as well. If this system of Financial Fair Play is broken then the team gets negative x amount of league points, x being the number of dollars in debt in millions they will be.

Farewell to Beckham? The MLS Cup

David Beckham's farewell to soccer? Maybe. His farewell to the MLS? Almost certainly. After joining the LA Galaxy in 2007 Beckham has yet to lift up the MLS Cup. This is his chance. Houston Dynamo are without their main offensive weapon and LA are at full strength. Yet LA Galaxy better be wary of Houston physical play style. LA need to be possessive to win this game, have Houston chase them. If they can do this Beckham can lift his cup. I feel LA will win the game, they have been the best team in the league this year and I feel like this would be the best way for Beckham to finish his career. If he wins, he retires, if he loses he goes back to Europe. The way LA have played this season, I see Beckham finishing his great career on a high note. Check out the live play-by-play on my twitter @dshawsoccerblog

Poll Results: Man City vs Bayern Munich final

FC Barcelona won't be our next Champions League champion according to the people. The rising power of Manchester City and the German Giants Bayern Munich were in a deadlock. So if the people can't decide I will. Manchester City is a fine team but I can't see them beating a team of Bayern Munich's quality. Bayern Munich is essentially the German National team. Despite Man City's great form, Bayern Munich is the better team and have more players that can finish and play well together. Manchester City's first 12 games with the mercenaries doesn't prove that they have great communication. Put your money on Munich out of the two of those teams.

Bayern Falls: the German Messi rises

Bayern Munich suffered a shock loss today at home against defending champions Borussia Dortmund. Bayern had been dominating the whole game, until the German Messi, Mario Goetze, scored in the 65'. Mario Goetze is the next major player in the world. Hopefully he gets a starting position on the stacked German National team in the next World Cup so he can prove his worth.
              Bad loss for Bayern but they are still in the lead, being 2 points ahead of Borussia Dortmund. I think Bayern in the end will win the Bundesliga.

Dealin' Cards in 0-0 draw

In a decently exciting Russian Premier League game between the new billionaires Anzhi and top of league Zenit St Petersburg, 8 yellow cards and 1 red were shown. The red came to Anzhi midfielder Mbark Boussoufa in the 81'. It was a tight game throughout but there weren't many chances. Overall Russian Premier League just isn't fun to watch. Expect though in a couple of years for Anzhi to be a fun team to watch in the Champions League.