lso went to see David Beckham's debut with the LA Galaxy against Chelsea. David ~ I'm an Eastender living in LA too, give me a call :))
David and Victoria Beckham have reportedly approached pop star Madonna about buying her Beverly Hills compound.
The British soccer star and the former Spice Girl have recently been on a whirlwind house-hunting spree in Los Angeles.
Beckham, who has signed a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team that's potentially worth $250 million, is hoping to spend under $20 million for their new home.
The Beckhams' agent, Barry Peele, of Sotheby's International Realty, refused to comment on reports the couple has spoken to Madonna about buying her property, saying he had signed "a lengthy confidentiality agreement".
The celebrity couple reportedly saw 20 homes during their last trip and are looking at properties in the $18-30 million range in Los Angeles' Westside.
Kurt Rappaport of real estate firm Westside Estate Agency tells the Los Angeles Times, "They'll be away three weeks. There will be more homes for them to see when they get back."
The morning after the night before is often a sobering occasion. Why am I chained to a lamppost? Why the f*ck aren’t we in the League Cup Final? That kind of thing.
For the long suffering fans of Tottenham Hotspur, last night was just another chapter in a miserable catalogue of underachievement and disappointment. 20 minutes of scintillating, breathtaking, poetic football thoroughly spoilt by 190 minutes of dogged defending, dodgy tactics and the inability to double-check a team sheet. Only Spurs.
The kneejerk reaction of a minority has already started to call for the head of Martin Jol, something that is as unlikely as it is ridiculous, but the thought that the great man himself might be scratching his head this morning over another heart wrenching derby defeat is worrying to say the least.
This tie should have been out of sight by the end of the 1st leg, perhaps even the 1st half of that game. The so called ‘youth team’ of Arsenal possess a great deal of talent yet their limited experience should have been punished in front of a White Hart Lane crowd baying for blood after Julio Baptista scored the first of his unorthodox hattrick last Wednesday. They should have been buried by a side keen to show that they would not tolerate facing a second XI in a domestic cup semi final.
Instead, we put the brakes on, a tactical switch that would prove all the more costly considering our two attacking focal points, Lennon and Berbatov, would play no further part in the 2nd leg. It should be abundantly clear that, when fielding an inexperienced side that had already proved themselves in reaching a semi final, Wenger’s brief would be that they had nothing to lose. “Go get those goals back”.
The advantage was lost pitifully and very rarely has a draw tasted so authentically like the bitterest of defeats. Baptista got his 2nd and 3rd goals of the evening, Spurs groaned and Arsenal sang. And when that happens, it really must be going their way.
Yesterday began even better than most ‘big game’ days. ‘Sheringham heading back to Spurs’ read the tabloids, along with 3 or 4 promising names that had been mooted for several weeks. Had we known at the time that none would have signed by the stroke of midnight, it might have been translated as an inadvertent message from the cruel red top hacks that it would have been better off staying in bed.
No Lennon, no pace. No Berba, no physical presence upfront. No attacking changes until a goal down, no ambition. Even passion, surely inherent during a cup semi against your local rivals was lacking from so many of the players. Are Jermain Defoe and Jermaine Jenas REALLY as upset as the fans this morning? I hate to say that I don’t think they are.
What Tottenham need is a battler, an Edgar Davids minus a few thousand miles. Nolan, Barton, even Savage, all wear their heart on their sleeve, run for ninety minutes and, perhaps most importantly, aren’t shirt swapping and hugging their local rivals after losing a cup semi final. And that’s why they are so adored by their fans and so despised by the opposition: they want to win.
All is not lost for THFC and this defeat will be nothing more than a minor blip should our cup form continue and the final victory of the season takes place at Wembley or Hampden Park. But if the current incumbents of that famous white shirt aren’t motivated for a game like Wednesday then it could all be a little too familiar when the silverware is handed out in May.
Whoever said this European football lark was difficult was talking a load of old cobblers. Five games into Tottenham’s 2006 European Tour and with five straight wins we’ve finally found the natural home for our style of play.
Unfortunately our natural home seems to be on the continent rather than the bread and butter of the Premiership but if we keep up the fantastic form we’ve displayed in Europe, both home and away, then there aren’t many of the sides who will join us in the last 32 that we should worry about.
The threat of Barcelona dropping down fron the Champion’s League still looms large although, as with any cup competition, if you have aspirations of lifting the trophy then eventually you’ll have to face the very top teams and, still surprisingly for me despite our 100% record, Spurs are right up there with holders Sevilla as one of the UEFA Cup favourites with the football bookies.
After another clean sheet and another Berbatov goal on his old stomping ground all I can say is bring on allcomers, we’ve been so engrossed for seasons in getting that elusive European place that we’ve forgotten what it’s really all about - getting out there and beating the cream of Europe and bringing home that old pot to White Hart Lane where it belongs and who’s to say that 2006/2007 isn’t shaping up to be as good as chance to do that as anyone could possibly have dreamed before a ball was kicked in Prague the other month?
Photo credit: EPL Talk on Flickr
The will he or won’t he sign for United debate is hotting up as teenager Freddy Adu has just four days left of his trial at Man U to convince Mr Ferguson that he can be a star for the Old Trafford faithful. He has been on a two week trial from D.C United to judge whether he makes the grade for playing at the top level of the Premiership.
So far it seems the teenage sensation has impressed the coaching staff but winning over Sir Alex may prove to be a more arduous task. Adu has been tracked by the Manchester Club since he was 14 years old and it seems that this is the time if they are to make a move to capture his signature. Chelsea have also shown an interest in the Ghanaian born midfielder and a move to Old Trafford could be seen as a coup d’etat for United over their title rivals.
Adu is hailed as a footballing superstar in the Major Soccer League but whether he can transfer his skills to the English game is another question. With the big names such as Sheva failing at Chelsea it begs the question whether players can adapt to the style of play of the Premiership. Adu has said “MLS has been great. I’ve enjoyed my time with D.C. United and I’ve really grown as a professional - but to see a huge change in my abilities I need to go to Europe with all the best players”. It seems Freddy wishes to make a move to Europe and if Man United turn the youngster down then other clubs could be happily waiting in the wings to snatch his signature.
Should Man United take a chance and put pen to paper or will Freddy end up as another “what should have been” contender together with the likes of Veron and Rebrov?
Lee on the ball, right hand edge of the Arsenal area, he beats his man and cross to the near post. Lehman goes to collect, spills, Berbatov…… GGOOOAAALLLL!
That’s how it should have went instead, about an hour into the game and Spurs 2-0 down it went like this
Lee on the ball, right hand edge of the Arsenal area, he beats his man and cross to the near post. Lehman goes to collect, spills and comfortably collects because Berbatov cannot be bothered to even chase in the cross.
It was a feature of today’s humiliating defeat to Arsenal and I feel for any fans that paid their money and made the journey across to the Emirates Stadium to watch the game. There was talk before the game of naughty workers that had hidden Tottenham scarves in the cement when building the Stadium. If it is true, it was the only thing anyone from the white half of North London did to try and win this game.
I am going to be critical but what I saw on TV today was an embarrassment and for the first time in my life, I turned off the TV before the end of the game. I could not watch and I was getting too annoyed. I was literally screaming at the TV, it was as bad as I have seen Tottenham play for a long time. I have no problem with the team getting beat, it is part and parcel of the game, but the lack of effort the eleven that started game but in was unbelievable. The only person that can probably hold his head high was Pascal Chimbonda, I thought he had an OK game but even he was not at his usually best.
Yes, there will be some fans that blame the referee. That is fine, have a go at him, have a go at the assistant linesman but finding a scapegoat does not solve the problem. Below is how I saw it.
1st Goal
Onside or Offside? I am going with onside. I thought Chimbonda was playing him on. However, the blame does not lie with Pascal, it lies squarely on the shoulders of Michael Dawson. He was miles away from Adebayor, I was sitting at home in California and was closer. He jumped out, with Ledley it must be said, not knowing where his full backs were or where the striker was. If it had been flagged offside, it would still have been shocking defending. Also, Robinson should have closed him down a lot quicker. For someone that is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he is doing a very good impression of being the opposite.
2nd Goal
Penalty or not a penalty? Not a penalty in my mind and the ref got it wrong. However, again you have to look at the build up. Assou-Ekotto always looks so laid back to me, chewing his gum and wandering around the pitch. Ledley dropped the ball off to him and it should have been up the field, quick as you like. Instead he tried to turn and lost out. Yes, Poll did get the decision wrong and it cost a goal and perhaps 1-0 down at half time we have a chance but it was poor defending.
3rd Goal
I could not tell you. I turned off at about 65 minutes. Why? It was not good for the old heart! I was screaming at Lennon when I turned off the TV. He had just gone down the right wing and lost the ball. If it was me, I would be turning around and chasing the defender down, trying to win it back. This was, after all, a North London derby, wasn’t it? Lennon jumped up and down on the spot in frustration as Arsenal, under no pressure whatsoever, carried the ball clear. It was a joke and I was embarrassed to be watching.
The only positive thing in this game was the fact that Martin Jol looked how I felt. I still think he is the right man for the job and I hope in a couple of years time we will have a really competitive squad that can compete in the league and Europe on a regular basis. Jol is the man to lead us to that and I bet he put a rocket up the arse of each and every player in this game. You could see the look on this face. Yes, he would be disappointed with the ref’s decision but I bet you he was more disappointed with the players. Prem Plus should his reaction to the first goal. He was shaking his head well before the ball went into the back of the net and why? Because Berbatov had gave the ball away far too cheaply. It was typical of the Bulgarian front man. Brilliant one minute, absolutely awful the next.
I think the attitudes in the tunnel showed it was not going to be our day. While Henry chatted to his team mates and gave them a last minute good luck, you could see Dider Zokora walking over to the Arsenal players and shaking hands with them? I looked again, surely not, but yes, shaking hands with them. I know he is friends with Toure but wait till after the game for this kind of thing. It was a joke and something I hope Jol disciplines him about. Ledley did this thing where he turned to the players behind him, clapped his hands and (presumably) said “Come On”. How many players joined him in an “I am up for it” clap? Zero. If you have not got the right attitude before you go on the pitch, you will not have it when you get on.
All in all it was a shocking day at the office. It was joke, an embarrassment and the team were a waste of space. This was billed as the North London derby. One of the best in the world. If only the Tottenham players knew this. I was so disappointed in their effort and I think each and every one of them should give their daily wage to charity because they did not deserve it.