Flurry of Sunday Games Finish the Season

Ten games, all on at 1500 BST. Now that's fixture congestion. It gets so bad that I can't find the Sunderland-Arsenal match anywhere.

Wigan-Man. U. is on Setanta live at 10am EST; Chelsea-Bolton is on FSC live at 10am EST; Spurs-Liverpool is on FSC delayed at noon EST.

Man. Utd. must win to ensure they take the title. Chelsea must win and hope Man. Utd. get fewer than 3 points to win the league. Everton must get a point or more to ensure European competition next year and a bevy of teams near the bottom of the table are sorting out who stays in the Premier League next season. Other than those, there isn't much else to play for elsewhere. It looks like Man City will get a UEFA cup place as a reward for "fair play" this season.

Arsenal will most likely field a team filled with youngsters as the club can neither improve nor slip from third place this year. Hopefully, the game will be exciting because the fringe players will play hard to impress the boss. It's a shame that fewer people will get to see these young players because of the lack of TV coverage. I will be traveling on Sunday so highlights and the blogs will have to do to feed my soccer madness this week.

Armand Traore can put in a cross Arsenal 1, Everton 0 Flamini to AC Milan

I still have a VHS recording of Arsenal beating Everton 7-0 late in the season after Everton had secured a Champions League spot by finishing fourth. Today's psychologically-traumatized Arsenal managed a 1-0.

Arsenal reserve left-back Armand Traore can put in some nice crosses. He laid one on for Bendtner to head in the winner today against Everton in the 77th minute. It's far from the first time he's put in a lethal cross, and he hardly gets a run. Armand had come on as a substitute in the 70th minute. I'd like to see him get a run at left midfield (his defense can be shaky at times).

The big transfer news is Flamini on his way to AC Milan. Arsene Wenger allegedly wouldn't meet Flamini's wage demands. After Flamini's strong season as a holding midfielder, some Gooners will find themselves singing, at least quietly, "You don't know what you're doing."

Footballing Titans: Manchester United - Chelsea

Arsenal and Liverpool are very much the also-rans of English football in 2008. It's too easy to say it's all about money, but Manchester United and Chelsea have spent a lot of it, and wisely, to get to the top of club football.

This could be well-rounded by sharper minds than mine, and the comments to this post makes a fine forum to do so, but right off hand, United's purchases of Ferdinand and Rooney resonate with me. These are two cases where Alex Ferguson said that he wanted the players, and that United should pay whatever it takes (each in the 25 to 30 million pounds range) and it's paid off. Christiano Ronaldo was actually more of an Arsenal-type signing; a young, relatively unestablished player that the manager discovered, but still a big transfer in the 12 million pound range.

For Chelsea, Drogba and Essien are two good examples of purchasing power (around 25 million pounds each). Two top players from the French league, Mourinho said he liked the players, Chelsea didn't let cost get in the way, and the players have come good in England. There've been a bunch of players who came and went, like Veron and Mutu, but even these players were part of title-winning sides.

By comparison, Arsenal and Liverpool are meek. I think Reyes is just about Arsenal's biggest buy, maybe in the 10 to 15 million pounds range. In addition to being bullied in the transfer market, Arsene's not always good at holding onto players that could help the side.

Rafa's rotation policy extends to the team's transfer policy. Lots of mediocre players have been through the team, although the side is getting closer to being competitive, free of the likes of Pellegrino and Nunez.

But for now, it's the titans, Man United and Chelsea; level on points at the top of the league with 2 games to go, and set for a European Cup Final.

Follow the money & Cheap penalties

First, I'm reminded that football is the beautiful game. The Champions League Semi-Finals have been top-grade entertainment.

Why were 4 of the last 8, 3 of the last 4, and the last 2 teams in the competition from England? Cash. Lots of cash. English soccer is the common man's crack cocaine. Try it a couple of times, and your hooked. A global audience of junkies has pumped money into the English Premier League, and now players like Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, and Michael Essien play there.

Put players of this quality into your top teams, combined with homegrown players like Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes, and you've got a winning formula.

Liverpool lost out to Chelsea on a cheap penalty, but that's how they advanced from the quarter-finals against Arsenal. When a player is in nothing like a scoring opportunity, and is fouled, he and his side are incredibly fortunate. For me, it's an oddity in the rules.

Too good to go down? Derby 2, Arsenal 6

Just about every season, it seems, there's a relegation-threatened team that is widely considered "too good to go down." Not Derby County. Arsenal were suffering from some poor finishing and had concentration lapses at the back - the formula that generally leads to two dropped points, but Derby County were so easy to open up - the chances kept coming. Arsenal could've scored 10 with the number of chances they were creating.

Van Persie got a great goal, but had chances for more; same for Walcott.

Denilson played for the first hour. The Cesc-Denilson central-midfield partnership is one I'd like to see more. Walcott and Clichy brought a lot of speed to the left side. Eboue continues to struggle - his crosses look useful, but he lacks composure on the ball in potential goal-scoring opportunities.

Even if it was against the team on track for the lowest points total in the history of the Premier League, it was good fun to get 6 goals.

Prerequisite for being labeled a Big Game Bottler: Be a top player

The first leg of the Barcelona - Manchester United semi-final ended 0-0. Christiano Ronaldo missed a penalty, hitting it off the right upright, and the chorus labeling him a big game bottler is rising to a crescendo.

Ronaldo's miss has prompted Setanta to look deeper into the issue of bottlers.

Some have labeled Ronaldo and his overall performance a "Cod" and a "Disgrace," although some of these comments may have come from Irishmen who'd lost the run of themselves. Still, excessive diving does test the viewers' patience, and Ronaldo sometimes tends to resort to diving in big games. For those who haven't seen his longing pleas to the referee, his comment after the 2006 World Cup semi-final may be revealing: "The referee didn't help us."

Bear in mind it takes some doing to earn a reputation as a big game bottler. The performances leading up to the big games have to be good ones, and Ronaldo has scored 28 league goals playing on the wing, so he's in the spotlight. Don't expect to hear Arsenal's wide midfielder Emmanuel Eboue (no goals in all competitions, 28 starts, 5 substitute appearances) being accused of being a big game bottler any time soon.

Riise scores an own goalLiverpool 1, Chelsea 1

In the 95th minute of the Champions League Semi-Final first leg, Liverpool's John Arne Riise scored a howler of a headed own goal to give Chelsea a much-appreciated away goal. If the second leg ends 0-0, Riise's contribution will have been decisive.

Kuyt has been showing up at the right place at the right time fairly regularly for Liverpool on this Champions League run, and he bundled in their goal last night.

First legs are just a warmup, though. This one looks set for a gripping finale.

Champions League Semi-Finals Liverpool host Chelsea tomorrow to get it started

One of the things that has helped millions of people across the globe keep the faith in the beautiful game has been Liverpool dumping Chelsea out of the Champions League Semi-Finals in 2005 and 2007. Liverpool have the chance the complete the hat trick starting tomorrow, with Gerrard, Torres, and Babel all in top form.

One of the players to watch for Chelsea could be Nicolas Anelka. The journeyman striker has the talent to make an impact at this level, but his chances in these types of big games has been limited.

Supporters of the French National team will want to compare Anelka's performance tomorrow to Henry's performance for Barcelona against Manchester United on Wednesday, assuming both of them play. They could both be left out, but Anelka has shown glimpses that he could be ready for prime time.

Reading, in a relegation dogfight, drop 3 more points at the EmiratesArsenal 2, Reading 0

No one wants to see Reading relegated. They play attacking football. They're in 17th right now, but Birmingham City are only a point back, and have a game in hand.

Arsenal create a lot of chances, but only got goals today from Adebayor and Gilberto. The Adebyor goal was off the top shelf: a cross in from the right and a sweet/brilliant/lucky touch at the edge of the 18-yard box to put him in a 1-on-1 with the keeper, and a second touch that was a confident finish. The Gilberto goal was a punt that took a wicked deflection.

Theo Walcott is a dynamo. Watching the player making forward runs is worth the price of digital cable.

Cesc is a brilliant player, and was brilliant once again against Reading, but he might not ever reach the very, very top of the world game with his limited pace. His skill on the ball, his passing vision, his ability to win balls, his endurance to always look fresh: these are his reliable skills. Goal-scoring menace only comes to him in phases. When it comes to chasing down balls, he can look fairly average in a foot race.

Van Persie looked like he's getting better. He'd been playing at about 70%, and increased that to about 80% today. At 100%, mind you, he's ripping the net off the frame.

Manchester United earned a point away to Blackburn. America's all-time greatest footballer, Brad Friedel, made three great saves down the stretch, before United's Tevez got a late equalizer. I wonder if Wenger ever thought about trying to sign Friedel? He's a player who's getting on, but he's a top keeper, from what I've seen.

No horse at the races. I've gone right off my football.

Arsenal can look forward to Champions League Football again next season, as Everton lost to Chelsea today. Congratulations, lads, for another top 4 finish, but the rest of the season holds no more interest than four friendlies. Friendlies are diverting enough, mind you, but if you miss one live, you don't necessarily bother with the tape delay.

Champions League semi-finals just don't capture the interest the way they would with Arsenal involved. I'd like to see Liverpool win it, but truth told, I have something of the jobless, uninsured Pennsylvanian's bitterness about me, since Arsenal's unfortunate expulsion.

Ah, but the Euros. The Euros are something to look forward to, and with the contested Democratic Party primary campaign in the interim, I'll just about make it.