The Whole Delivery

Pre-Game Kickaround: Fernando's Last Chance  In a normal buildup to Champions League semifinals, the return of Fernando Torres to his former two clubs would be a story garnering frontline attention, examining in detail whether the former world class striker turned global mystery would recapture his once impeccable form. But the events of recent days has made that intriguing tale almost as irrelevant as Pep Guardiola renewing his rivalry with Real Madrid. The David Moyes saga and Torres' own current manager, Jose Mourinho negative tales, have occupied the attention well before the Spanish striker's return to his old domiciles. In fact, Atletico manager Diego Simeone is third in line for most headlines in both the English and Espana's presses, with him now being linked to the United job despite being comfortable with his position. Torres' anecdote though will return to the forefront this time around, as he is destined to get playing time in Chelsea's big...

Photo from GettyImages.com Despite winning the club its first Champions League and European title, despite winning the FA Cup last May, and despite being a title positioned 3rd place in the Premier League, Roman Abramovich thought Robert Di Matteo was less worthy to keep his job than Andre Villas Boas last year. Even with their current rough patch going on with Abramovich's desire to never be truly patient when his club faces adversity after Juventus 2nd half clear home win yesterday , this still was an unexpected shock and totally beyond ridiculous. Is the main reason for the latest stupid Roman Rage move was the fact that Di Matteo did not start Fernando Torres last night and played a counterattacking style vs Juventus instead of being like Barcelona, playing the same offensive possession style every game regardless of the situation. It really is quite nauseating to see this happen in pure irrationality and knee jerk anger once again from this childish ...

After last week's defeat to Manchester City, Chelsea regain their mantle as best team in the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 defeat of Arsenal at Stanford Bridge. It was their 5th straight defeat of the Gunners, as it highlighted Didier Drogba's 13 goal against Arsene Wenger's side. It seemed Arsenal could still grab a late equalizer to share the points, but a wonderful free kick from Alex late in the 2nd half secured Chelsea another big three points. The Blues move four points ahead in the standings, with their conquerors from last week in 2nd now with 4 points after their 2-1 win over Newcastle. The result of Week 7 in this league though was clearly Blackpool's 2-1 road victory over Liverpool. Dire times indeed for Roy Hodgson and the Anfield Nation.

Photo from Premierleague.com It's no question who Chelsea's boogeyman team is right now. Manchester City has defeated the league leaders once again, becoming the first team to take any points away from the champions this year thanks to Carlos Tevez fine 59th minute effort to give City a big 1-0 win. City's midfield was just "too powerful" for Chelsea as coach Carlo Ancelotti described, as both Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda had very quiet days in attack today. But the even more eye popping result today in the league was without a doubt West Brom 3-2 shock win at Arsenal. The rest of the results from Saturday highlight clearly how the parody in this league is growing bit by bit. Steven Gerrard had to save Liverpool avoid defeat at home, ending their match against visiting Sunderland 2-2. In the battle of "The Blacks", Blackburn scored a late winner to devastate Blackpool 2-1. Probably the most boring match of the day featured Birmingham a...

Photo from Premierleague.com West Ham showed a lot of spirit and skill , but they concede 3 goals once more to Chelsea, as it is four straight wins for the Blues. And their win was cemented by all of their title rivals except Arsenal dropping points today. Despite injuries, the Gunners overcame a tough Bolton side with a fine 4-1 victory . Their cross town bitter foes Tottenham though did not get the 3 points, as their own injury woes lead to them finishing 1-1 with diligent West Brom . Manchester City continued to look like title pretenders , as Joe Hart's shaky day contributed in Blackburn finishing 1-1 with them. But City's result wasn't as hard to swallow as the collapse their neighbors United had, conceding two goals in two minutes late to Everton to end their match at Goodson Park 3-3 . Despite a horrendous broken ankle injury for Bobby Zamora, Fulham got a late winner from Dembele's 2nd goal to overcome Wolves 2-1. Antolin Alcaraz saved Wigan from anothe...

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Photo form Getty Images It's a cruel day for Aston Villa, as despite arguably being the better team for most of the day, they have come up second fiddle. Chelsea has advanced to the Final of the FA Cup over the Birmingham side 3-0. Second half goals form Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and Frank Lampard sent the Blues running into the Wembley May 15 final, while Martin O'Neil's side will feel aggrieved by losing on the same field of their Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United. Villa were by far the better team in the first half, but were denied a penalty when Gabby Agbonlahor was taken down in the box. However, as the second half progressed, it seemed Aston Villa were getting tired, and Chelsea started to sneak more forward. In the crucial turning point in match, the otherwise defensively sound Richard Dunne's poor clearance was directed to John Terry, as the centerback delivered it to Drogba for the opening tally in the 68th minute. From there, Chelsea nev...

Photo from Getty Images Title decider? It maybe so, as Didier Drogba's tally was the game winning difference in a massive 2-1 win at Old Trafford against United. In a match that highlighted the full absence of Wayne Rooney, the moment that exemplified that came in the match's final chance, as Dimitar Berbatov couldn't get the best contact on a half-chance volley. It was a quality match on the field today, and thanks to the pace of Florent Malouda and the cleverness of Joe Cole, Chelsea went up on 20th minute thanks to the flick from the Englishman off the delivery of his French teammate. And after enduring an expected United fightback, Chelsea got the massive second goal from their Ivory Coast striker in the 79th minute, who came off the bench. But Drogba's goal will be filled with controversy, as the officials missed that he was offside. But you can never count United out, as Frederico Macheda looked to have played another "Young Hero" moment like he ...

The two London clubs batting Manchester United for the Barclays Premier league crown this season had massive results this Saturday. But while Chelsea ran rampant just now on Aston Villa, Arsenal fans were devastated to see their team conceded a late equalizer to Birmingham City at St. Andrews. The Blues virtually ended any hopes of Aston Villa reaching the Top 4 this year, as a Frank Lampard 4 goal day propelled Carlo Ancelotti's team to an emphatic 7-1 win. But the same could not be said of their London rivals, as Arsenal conceded a Kevin Phillips deflection in the waning moments of the match to finish 1-1 with Birmingham City. Samir Nasri added to his growing legacy with a brilliant strike in the 81st minute, seeming to have given the Gunners a valuable three points. Instead, Arsenal and their supporters will now hope that Bolton can take points at home against a United side without Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand today.

Samuel Eto'o celebrates the goal to enrapture Inter fans hearts and crush Chelsea's(Photo from Getty Images) It was another enthralling night in the Round of 16 2nd leg stage of the Champions League, and it featured terrific road performances by Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow to garner well deserved places in the final 8. It was the dream return to Stamford Bridge for Jose Mourinho, as an immaculate performance by both his backline and Wesley Snejder, coupled with Samuel Eto'o scoring the match's only goal spurred the Italian Champions pass Chelsea 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. Carlo Ancelotti's team could not break down the outfit placed out by "The Special One", as Mourinho first visit to his last coaching job produce his team to deliver him the post-match accolades forthcoming to him. It seemed Inter would pay for the several chances they got throughout the tight but exciting encounter. From Eto'o to Diego Milito not capitalizing on the ...

Photo from Getty Images The Giants ' decision to release their defensive leader Antonio Pierce is a real bizarre one that shocked everyone around here. Though Pierce's injuries and level of play lead to the release before his final year on his deal, the middle linebacker still has a few good years in my mind. And there will certainly be a team that will benefit from having him in my mind. NBA All-star news : Allen Iverson is out, as he will be replaced by David Lee , so good for Mr. Lee because he deserved it way more than Al Horford did. And thankfully, Kobe Bryant has pulled himself out of the show piece in Dallas, with his ankle being the reason why. Jason Kidd will replace him, giving Mavs fans another reason to be happy. Hopefully no one will ask Rick Pitno again until actual evidence comes up about him wanting to be the coach of the Nets. MSNBC sure has been making sure you don't miss up to the minute coverage on Lindsay Vonn's injury, as she pract...

Photo from Getty Images A crucial error by Petr Cech has lead to Wigan Athletic giving title leaders Cheslea their first lost of the season. 3-1 was the scoreline at the GJB, while Manchester United scored a terrific win over Stoke City at the Britana Stadium today. For Wigan, it is their first win over the famed Big 4 today. And in the thrashings of the round, Liverpool thrashes Hull City 6-1, with Torres getting a hat trick and Gerrard scoring a wonderful goal. And Tottenham bounced back after two straight Big 4 losses with a 5-0 beating of Burnley at home. For more scores and results, go to the BPL's website .One more game to go in the day, as Theo Walcott returns for Arsenal against London rivals Fulham.

Photo of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who is obviously not be happy by this stunningly development This is massive news Chelsea have been banned from signing any new players until 2011, after Fifa accused them of illegally inducing a French youth-team player to join the club in 2007. Fifa's dispute resolution chamber today released a statement fining Gaël Kakuta €780,000 following a complaint from FC Lens and finding Chelsea "jointly and severally liable". "A restriction of four months on his eligibility to play in official matches is imposed on the player Gaël Kakuta while the club FC Chelsea is banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the two next entire and consecutive registration periods following the notification of the present decision," the DRC statement said. "Furthermore, the club, FC Chelsea, has to pay to RC Lens training compensation in the amount of €130,000." The 18-year-old was voted the scho...

Photo from Rebecca Naden of PA Well, the "most exciting league" in the world returns (though La Liga is the best league in the world) with another glorious season of football (soccer) in store for the millions and millions of masses around the world. It has already been an action packed opening afternoon around the country in England, with terrific goals and surprising dominance by almost all the road teams. One of those road teams were Hull, and they almost picked off an impressive point on the road against title contenders Chelsea. But the brilliance of Didier Drogba prevented that, with two fabolous goals to break the backs of the Hull supporters in a great 2-1 Chelsea win. And also, the love for the legend that was Sir Bobby Robson has been so hurt felt today throughout the country. It was the perfect opener to Manchester City's season today, as Mark Hughes beat his old side Blackburn 2-0 off of goals from one of his new much ballyhooed Emmanuel Adebayor and last yea...