Editor’s Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVHooligan each week. Today he’s back with his weekly look at the life of a Liverpool fan living in American. Feel free to leave Geoff your thoughts below.

This week has been a pretty slow week in football compared to previous weeks. Over in England, matches last weekend in the Premiership followed by Carling Cup during the week where most clubs gave their reserves and younger players a chance to prove themselves to the manager of their respective clubs.

With Liverpool, playing at Upton Park, east London was always going to be tricky because West Ham are a firmly established Premiership club and one of the most respected in English football due to how many great English players have come through the clubs famous youth system over the years. Players like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and others from the 1966 England squad that won the World Cup on home soil consisted of a good number of West Ham United players. Later on, Trevor Brooking, Alvin Martin and Paul Ince have come through and had very successful careers at the highest level. The latest players to have come through the system playing at the top level include Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, Manchester United’s Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand and Liverpool’s very own Glen Johnson. Currently in Gianfranco Zola’s squad, James Tomkins and Freddie Sears (who is actually on loan at Crystal Palace until the end of the season) are the latest famous academy products to make the first team who are touted to go to the very top. West Ham also have Illinois’ very own Jonathan Spector so it was always going to be a very tough test in east London with Zola having on of the best assistant’s in the business in Steve Clarke and play a very attractive style of football and regularly push for European football.

Needless to say, Liverpool’s defending is still very inconsistent and the argument of zonal argument from some folks in the media in the UK have made this discussion a joke. Man to man marking really worked wonders in the Manchester derby last weekend didn’t it? The point is, a lot of goals have been scored this season, and almost every club has had problems defending, including Liverpool. In this particular match, the usual consistent, error free Jamie Carragher almost gave up an early goal had it not been for the post. It’s the fundamentals that are the usual problem as always: reaction time is not quick enough. As a defender no matter what system you are playing, you got to have that determination to get to the ball first and do whatever you can to either block the shot or clear it out of danger no matter what cost. Currently Liverpool defenders aren’t reacting fast enough. It sounds simple and straightforward, but it’s the truth. And every club in the league can say the same thing for their defense as well.

The positives? Fernando Torres has seemed to find his shooting boots finally after a long couple of years being involved in his first season at Anfield, followed by Euro 2008, then his second season in Merseyside followed by the Confederations Cup and now his third season as a red followed by the World Cup next summer should he not get injured. My main fear for him is burnout. Another pleasant surprise was Ryan Babel’s play when he came on as a substitute and setting up Torres’ winning goal. Israeli international Yossi Benayoun has picked up where he left off last season and showing some very fine form and has proven to be just as important as the main spine players in the team. New right back Glen Johnson has made a massive difference in league play by giving the attack another dimension down the right. While there was nothing wrong with Alvaro Arbeloa, a very fine defender, he wasn’t much of an asset on the attack. With him going to Real Madrid and Liverpool signing Johnson it worked for all parties involved. With the continuing progress of Alberto Aquilani, it shouldn’t be too long now before we see him in action in a red shirt should no problems or setbacks occur.

Closing this week with thoughts of the Carling (League) Cup clash against Leeds United at Elland Road, it’s a perfect case of how the mighty have fallen. Earlier this decade, the whites were playing Valencia in the semi-finals of the Champions League. One of my best mates back in the old country is a die hard Leeds fan and while I have never liked Leeds United in any way, I more then sympathize with what’s happened to that football club since. I do hope one day they can return to the Premiership, along with Newcastle United because both clubs belong in the top flight. Down the years both Leeds and Liverpool have had some terrific battles and while both clubs share the same distaste of Manchester United, it didn’t mean they were any friendlier with each other. A Liverpool side filled largely with reserves and young players won 1-0 but Leeds battled extremely well and showed enormous heart and can take great pride in their performance Tuesday night.

Editor’s Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVHooligan each week. Today he returns with his weekly series on the life of a Liverpool fan in America. Feel free to leave Geoff a note below.

After four weeks of the English season gone so far, we’re already seeing some trends set in with Chelsea topping the league being unbeaten this far, Manchester City setting an interesting tone in their new spending power and with the club not competing in European competition at all it should be interesting in how Mark Hughes can balance the squad and keep everyone happy with rotating. At least the thought of European football would make it easier in that respect, but there is no doubt the blues will be playing against other clubs from the continent next season, it’s just a question of which competition.

Liverpool’s start this season has many of the red half of Merseyside wondering if this team really has what it takes to challenge for honors this season. While it’s far too early to tell what will happen, you have to be somewhat concerned with the inconsistent start. Lately, the team has won three matches in a row by beating Bolton, Burnley and Debrecen in the Champions League opener on Wednesday night. The performances themselves have not been of the highest standards to say the least, but the important thing is the team is winning games.

I felt the score line on Saturday against the Clarets was very flattering even though it was a comfortable 4-0 win in the end. The thing that stands out the most is Liverpool and the US national team have something in common: both have recently started matches very slow and lethargic. Most people agree before Rico Clark hit that beauty of a shot from distance in Port of Spain, the national team did not look good at all. It’s really amazing what a goal can do for a team. After the goal was scored, the team settled down and Clint Dempsey didn’t look as lazy once he was moved up front. The same happened with the reds this past weekend. It wasn’t until Israeli international Yossi Benayoun scored the first of his three goals, the team then started to have a new found energy about them, passed the ball better, movement off the ball was better and gave more confidence to the side as a whole. I just don’t understand why both the US and Liverpool can’t play that way right from the start. The concerning fact for me is against tougher competition if either side plays like that both the national team and the reds will be in serious trouble.

It was fantastic to see the Champions League return this past week and back at it’s finest after seeing some cracking matches like the Standard Liege vs Arsenal matchup. Watching Liverpool’s opener against the Hungarian side Debrecen was not pretty, good overall performance and it must improve before the next match away to Fiorentina in Florence. The passing was not there, a lot of common sense was missing, even Steven Gerrard was making a lot of mistakes that is rare for him. The side should have scored more goals and going forward, Debrecen didn’t look a bad side. It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on them this year. They certainly won’t be whipping boys that’s for sure.

Off the pitch, the club announced a new sponsorship partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, a London based global bank which along with the continued partnership Danish beer company Carlsburg, should give the club an increased revenue to 26 million pounds each year for the next four years with Standard Chartered to be the main shirt sponsor starting next season. It’s encouraging hearing the financial news surrounding the club these days are positive after hearing nothing but negative forecast prediction by people and the debt George Gillett and Tom Hicks had previously acquired to purchase the club outright built up. The news that the new stadium should be back on track is also encouraging when the global economic situation improves. There was also talk today of possibly a third minority owner come in and help fund the stadium to be built on Stanley Park. While Anfield has been a wonderful home and given myself and all other Liverpool fans who have been lucky enough to see matches there, the new, state of the art stadium with capacity much more higher then what Anfield currently holds (45,000) is a must to compete with both clubs from Manchester clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal did the same a few years ago leaving legendary Highbury for the Emirates Stadium. I’ve always described Anfield to my American friends when I was in college the English version of Fenway Park but you can easily compare Fenway to most old, English grounds.

The bottom line for the team right now is performances are starting to improve slowly.

It’s been a little while since I last posted my thoughts on Liverpool FC.  Last time out, the club had just suffered a demoralizing defeat at home to the hands on Aston Villa, and crisis mode was being pushed by the media and some fans adding fuel to the already growing fire.  Since then, the reds picked up a scrappy 3-2 win at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton before going on an international break.  So in theory, there isn’t too much to recap.

Starting with the match against Bolton Wanderers, by all means was not the prettiest match in the world and in a lot of ways it defined the term winning ugly.  If we get all the negatives out of the way first, the defending simply has to improve, it’s as simple as that.  All fingers will point to zonal marking because it’s the easiest bandwagon to jump on in times like these, yet Liverpool have had one of if not the best defense in the league the last few years.  That there tells me it works.  The problem simply is the reaction time has to be better.  If the ball is bouncing around in your six yard box, as a defender your first instinct should be to block the ball or clear it out of danger no matter what cost.  Man marking has always traditionally been the English way of defending and in a lot of ways it’s one example of why the English game was behind the times for so many years before it took foreign managers and players to come in during the latter half of the 1990’s but that’s another story for another day.

Moving onto the positives, we saw a good debut for Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos who seems to be a direct replacement for Finnish legend Sami Hyypia.  Although he doesn’t look the quickest on the ground, certainly his height could be key in the coming months this season in the league playing against teams like Bolton who have a physical style about them, plus he’s already been exposed to British football by being on the books of Rangers in the SPL for 18 months so he’s no stranger to the traditional style.

Another positive was the character and determination amongst the squad after going behind twice and coming back to win.  No, it’s not a recurring theme we want, but it is comforting to know that when the team is up against it then they do have the drive to come back from the brink but then again, that’s been a trademark of this team ever since Rafa Benitez became manager in the summer of 2004 and proof of this was the Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul a year later.  Fernando Torres’ confidence will be higher after scoring and every striker is confident the more goals he scores.  Since this game, it looks like Steven Gerrard has come back into top form after scoring for England to help seal their trip to South Africa next summer.  Alberto Aquilani has yet to make his debut because he is still recovering from an injury he picked up with Roma at the end of last season and that still can’t get here soon enough because Lucas Leiva is not the long term answer in midfield alongside Javier Mascherano.  Lucas is another option for rotation and hasn’t performed badly, but he won’t be first on the team sheet if everyone is healthy for the biggest match of the season whether it’s the Champions League Final or a league match that is must win that would guarantee the title all Liverpool fans crave.

This Saturday, Liverpool host Burnley (9:55am, ESPN2) in what should be a hard fought match.  Expect Burnley to close up shop and hold out for a 0-0 draw, similar to what Stoke City did last season when they came to Anfield.  Once again, the question is which Liverpool team will show up to play?

On a side note, everyone should join me in congratulating our own WV Hooligan for officially tying the knot!

Premiership football is back in full swing and it doesn’t feel any better does it? Well that depends on who you ask. Before Monday nights match against Brad Friedel and Aston Villa I was thinking which Liverpool would show up: the one that lost to Spurs on opening weekend being very inconsistent or the one that trashed Tony Pulis’ Stoke City the following Wednesday? The best explanation I can come up with was a mixture of both. Obviously my first reactions were a little blown up after a defeat and I’ve always been someone who gives myself 24 hours to gather my thoughts and look at things more rationally. It was the same back in my college days after we’d win or lose a match because our reactions were always different right after the match ended compared to analyzing it the following day.

The statistics don’t lie: 24 shots on goal for Liverpool (11 were on target) while Villa had only 8 (only 4 were on target). 10 corner kicks for Liverpool while Villa had 4 and during time of possession Liverpool had 68% compared to Villa’s 32%. So what I have taken from all that is not to panic, at least not yet. It shows Liverpool did everything to win the match but sometimes you need that bit of luck to win these matches and it wasn’t with Liverpool. The first goal showed us that when a free kick from very talented Ashley Young took a deflection off Lucas Leiva of all people went past Pepe Reina. Lucas for sure did not have a great game, but neither did the captain Steven Gerrard. It was Gerrard after all that gave away the vital penalty right after Fernando Torres equalized so it happens to the best of us. After the second goal went in right before half time literally, that would be my only complaint about the referee who otherwise had an outstanding match. Before the corner kick had been taken, the one minute of added time had already taken place. It doesn’t disguise the fact that the defending on the set piece was terrible because it was, but that corner should have never taken place. Zonal marking or man marking, it was terrible and Liverpool’s system of zonal marking has proven over the last few years it can work if you have the right players, but everyone must be on the same page and it was clear the back line was not.

In saying all that, I must give credit to Martin O’Neill, Brad Friedel and Aston Villa enormous credit because they defended very well. It was the perfect example of how to close up shop, and defend from the front. Villa managed to keep the pitch very tight and whenever any Liverpool player was trying to thread the needle, there wasn’t a big enough gap and when chances did happen, Friedel was there to stop them. I’ve always said that Gerard Houllier’s decision to let Friedel go on a free was the biggest mistake he ever made when he was manager. To think that he had the goalkeeping solving problem right under his nose when he took full charge in late 1998 and didn’t realize it just shows he wasn’t really the best judge in players. Since Friedel left Anfield, Sander Westerveld, Jerzy Dudek, and Chris Kirkland have all come and gone and only until Reina was signed from Villarreal did the reds solve the position between the pipes. It could have all been solved if Friedel was allowed to stay.

Yesterday was the Champions League draw from Monaco and while the draw is certainly not going to be easy at all, it could have been much more worse for Liverpool. Lyon won the French title for seven straight years before eventually Bordeaux beat them to the finish. Fiorentina have always been my favorite Italian Club since the days of Gabriel Batistuta, the great Argentinean goal scorer, when I was growing up watching Italian football. The unknown and I will be perfectly honest, is Debrecen from Hungary. I admit I don’t know anything about them at this point apart from being Hungarian champions, but will be doing research on them very soon because I always like to have that comfort of somewhat understanding Liverpool’s opponents. They could very well be the surprise team in this year’s tournament and they deserve respect.

So while it is concerning that Liverpool has now lost just as many matches in the league this season as they did the whole of last season, I think it’s important that it’s still only August and to remind everyone that Manchester United won the league by having four defeats, and it was the draws at home that ultimately cost Liverpool the title. Now is a time the first team players should take a good look in the mirror and asking themselves what they can do to improve the team’s performance. It doesn’t have to be pretty, win ugly and scrappy for all I care, just get this season on the right foot and fast. The margin for error in today’s Premiership is so thin after Arsenal went undefeated on the way to win the title in the 2003-04 season. Nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes. Now is the time to put those mistakes right before it’s too late otherwise Liverpool will turn into Arsenal of last season losing five matches before December.

On a quick note I just wanted to give some thoughts on the ending of World Soccer Daily. I had nothing to do with the boycott. I never sent any emails to sponsors like four four two, Heineken, or any other of WSD’s sponsors. I just simply stopped listening. I fully supported the boycott though because ultimately what Steven Cohen has said was wrong no matter what way you look at it. That also doesn’t excuse the fact that if Cohen’s family were threatened by so called Liverpool fans then in my mind they aren’t real Liverpool fans anyway. Just like the trouble between West Ham and Millwall fans earlier this week in the League Cup I don’t consider them real fans of both clubs. I also don’t believe much of what Cohen says anyways. There’s always idiots out there and maybe there were a few that somehow contacted his family and that’s wrong in every way. Putting aside all the Liverpool and Hillsborough issues, Cohen was never good for the game in this country in my opinion. Back when it was him and Nick Geber, they always criticized MLS and US Soccer very unfairly and often didn’t have the facts in front of them. Cohen earlier this MLS season claimed that the Freddy Montero case was good for the league because it gave the league exposure. How can he honestly say that when it’s negative press about football? Plain and simple Cohen was a Euro snob and from what I am hearing is that Kenny Hassan, Cohen’s most recent co-host was going to bring the show back in a different format which I’m all for if it doesn’t include Cohen himself.

So there I was just getting home from work last Sunday after nine o’clock knowing that I missed my beloved Liverpool’s season opener away against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.  I already knew the score, as I was cheekily following the live up-to-date match statistics on my phone and was well gutted, however not jumping the gun.  Once I was watching the replay on FSC and knowing the score I was still screaming at the television as if it was live.  Makes me wonder if I’m actually sane when I know the eventual outcome.  But then I also realized that nobody was around to listen to my points and anyone in my household that would have been there wouldn’t have understood what I was on about anyway.  So the thought of an online diary if you will came into my head and unfortunately for you poor people that read this will be reading my points of view and rants!

In this day and age with the millions of dollars, pounds, euros whatever the currency may be, we find ourselves having a lot more knee jerk reactions after one bad result.  Panic time starts to set in among certain fans and that is driven by the media more then anyone else.  Also in this day and age, newspapers are struggling to sell with the growth of the internet so they need stories to sell their print. Some are true and others false.  When it comes to English football, the tabloids in the UK are some of the worst.  After reading some stories in the English tabloids, you wonder if they’ve even kicked a ball in their life.

After Liverpool lost to Spurs on opening weekend, these reactions were already happening with certain pundits saying Rafa Benitez hasn’t replaced Xabi Alonso, Lucas Leiva isn’t up to that responsibility and Liverpool’s title hopes are finished.  All this after one match!  My favorite Liverpool writer Paul Tomkins has a very interesting take on knee jerk reactions when it comes to this sort of thing.  Is Lucas a suitable replacement for Alonso?  No, of course not, that is why Rafa bought Alberto Aquilani from Roma right after Alonso was sold to Real Madrid.  The problem is, Aquilani is injured for another six weeks at least, until late September at earliest.  Already though, some former players turned pundits are getting on Aquilani’s case.  Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon was quoted as saying “They have brought in Alberto Aquilani to fill that space but until he proves he can be the chief supplier then they are going to have problems.”  So how can he prove himself when he is still injured?  And as for Lucas, all the criticism he got after his performance against Spurs, he was actually one of Liverpool’s few bright spots along with new signing Glen Johnson in an otherwise poor overall performance.

The first half against Harry Redknapp’s side, the reds looked very flat, as did Spurs to a point and being the first game of the season, it was to be expected somewhat.  The clash of heads between Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel summed it all up.  That incident should never have happened and should have been avoided.  It comes down to  the basic art of defending, one of them has to put a name on that ball and call for it, especially when there was no pressure from a Spurs striker.  Just goes to show, even the very best who play at the highest level can make mistakes.  There was also other basics that were lacking like simply putting a few passes together, movement off the ball all of these simple things that made Liverpool top scorers in league play last season.  It’s been a tough pre-season with different players starting at different times.  For example, the Spanish contingent started their pre-season later because of Confederations Cup duties.  Even Fernando Torres was getting unfairly criticized with pundits saying he looks like a shadow of his former self.  Well if that’s the case, he might as well pack it in at the age of 25 because he’s already reached his peak and he’s past it.  Because England didn’t take part in the Confederations Cup, not many English people even knew it was on or what it was therefore had no idea some players like Torres had a late start to pre-season training.

Overall, I can’t argue with the 2-1 defeat in north London.  Spurs were the better side through the 90 minutes and all I kept thinking was we need to improve and fast.  Yes, the reds should have had another penalty when Andriy Voronin was barged off the ball by a Tottenham defender when clearly he never meant to play the ball.  Another shout for a handball came only a few minutes later but that was only ball to hand.  Putting aside the late penalty claims, the defeat was what Liverpool deserved.

The home opener was only three nights later versus Stoke City and already it was a must win game, with all crazy rumors of Rafa Benitez quitting over supposedly not being given any more transfer funds by the owners.  To be quite honest, I wouldn’t mind these rumors starting every week because whenever they seem to start Liverpool win by four goals!  And it happened again against the potters.  The question now is who is the real Liverpool?  The side that beat Stoke 4-0 on Wednesday evening or the one that was second best against Spurs?

Editor’s Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVHooligan.com every Monday with his take on the game. He returns today to preview the second leg of Champions League matches this week. As always feel free to leave Geoff your comments below.

FC Bayern Munich (GER) vs FC Barcelona (ESP) at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, FC Barcelona leads 4-0 on aggregate

I think it’s fair to say my prediction for this tie is completely out the window because it’s now anything but tight and the Catalans have a more then comfortable lead. Kilinsmann, who will be out of a job by the summer recently said its important to play for pride. Inside the dressing room he will be reminding his players about the AC Milan and Deportivo La Coruna tie earlier this decade at the same stage of the tournament when the Italians beat the northern Spaniards 4-1 at the San Siro only for Deportivo to win the second leg 4-0 at the Riazor and win 5-4 on aggregate. I can’t see that happening again and although I think Bayern will get some goals, it ultimately won’t be enough and Barcelona just simply have too much quality throughout and they proved that at the Camp Nou last week. The Bavarians defense got exposed too often last week and at least that part of my prediction was correct!

Chelsea FC (ENG) vs Liverpool FC (ENG) at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, Chelsea FC leads 3-1 on aggregate

I was lost for words when my beloved Reds got beat at what’s become our European fortress in L4 and conceding three goals at home is unheard of these days. I did predict Chelsea would win the tie because they had the advantage of hosting the second leg and obviously the first leg result has not changed that.

I am an optimist but also a realist and I put those two words into theory when thinking about this match. The Merseysiders needs to score three away goals at least. Tough job. However, after seeing Bolton do it this past weekend gives me hope and with the Londoners having captain John Terry suspended gives me even more hope. As a Liverpool fan I am officially in the same mindset I was in at half time of the 2005 final vs AC Milan: just go out and give it your best shot and don’t get embarrassed or get back into it quickly and see what happens. Still though Chelsea will get through and meet the Catalan giants in the semi-finals and the club should do whatever they can to keep Guus Hiddink because is a winner.

On a personal note UEFA should be congratulated for making sure this tie is not played on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster on April 15th, 1989. I didn’t know any of the 96 that lost their lives on that tragic day, but as a fellow red and ultimately more importantly fellow fan and human being it’s important we pay the utmost respect to the families that lost loved ones and UEFA made that possible.

Arsenal FC (ENG) vs Villarreal CF (ESP) at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, teams level 1-1 on aggregate

After the draw in the Mediterranean coast this one is still tight to call. To add to the Gunners hosting the second leg, Marcos Senna is now not available due to an injury sustained at the weekend which makes things 10 times harder for Pellegrini’s men. As mentioned before the first leg, Adebayor is back in full form and even though I like and admire Villarreal as a team and a club they have ultimately run their course this season and should now concentrate on getting into next seasons competition. Arsenal have all but secured their spot in next seasons tournament, so they will now be fully focused on winning this years tournament.

FC Porto (POR) vs Manchester United FC (ENG) at the Estadio Do Drago on Wednesday, teams level 2-2 on aggregate

All of a sudden, this tie has become the most interesting one as far as neutrals are concerned. Porto did themselves a huge favor by getting two away goals in the first leg and if you’re a Porto fan you have to somewhat fancy your chances in this tie.

I still like United to get through because they are very experienced, been through this sort of thing before and come good. They can score goals anywhere even though their former invincible defense now has big holes that have been exposed in recent weeks. You also just have a feeling Cristiano Ronaldo will be up for this one after Sir Alex Ferguson gave him a talking to and coming back to Portugal he’ll want to do well.

So my picks are still the same: Arsenal vs Manchester United and Barcelona vs Chelsea. It remains to be seen whether they will still be correct and of course I hold out hope that one of my picks will be wrong. Keep an eye on the Porto/United tie folks, this one will be interesting.

Coming back to this side of the Atlantic, the Puerto Rico Islanders lost a heartbreaker in Mexico City last week. How was it that the away goals rule doesn’t count in extra time in CONCACAF? It does count in UEFA competition and that should be the same since the CONCACAF version is based off of the UEFA version.

Editor’s Note: Geoff Reid appears on WVH every week. Today he is stepping out of the MLS box and is previewing the UEFA Champsions League. Feel free to post your comments to Geoff below.

With the last eight teams in Europe locking horns this week I thought it would be appropriate to throw my predictions out there. Before I do, I will mention firstly I am as big of a Liverpool fan as you can get so if I at all sound bias I apologize. I like to think I am one of the most moderate football/soccer fans around so I’ll try my best to give my opinion right down the middle. As always if you agree or disagree with my thoughts please feel free to leave comments.

Villarreal CF (ESP) vs Arsenal FC (ENG): First Leg at Estadio El Madrigal on the 7th, Second Leg at The Emirates Stadium on the 15th

This is a tough one to call because both sides are in about the same position in there respective leagues. The interesting stories going into this tie is how big of a role will gunners old guy Robert Pires play, Villarreal’s mission to revenge their semi final loss to Arsenal in 2006 and both clubs are out of their domestic title races so while securing qualification for next seasons competition is a must financially as well as for bragging rights, this represents their best chance of silverware.

Most of the Arsenal team that started the final in 2006 against FC Barcelona have moved on, but a good chunk of the yellow submarine’s side is still there so you can count on players such as Marcos Senna will be fired up more then most. A massive decider in Europe whether it’s the Champions League, UEFA Cup or the old Cup Winners Cup is where the second leg will be held.

I don’t think that the Emirates Stadium is as intimidating as Highbury used to be but my head is with Arsenal on this one, however I will not be surprised if Villarreal pull this one off. It’s really a toss of the coin for this tie. The gunners have Adebayor healthy again and in form which will decide this tie.

Manchester United FC (ENG) vs FC Porto (POR): First Leg at Old Trafford on the 7th, Second Leg at the Estadio do Drago on the 15th

While the other three ties are harder to judge who will go through to the semi-finals, this one is not necessarily easier to predict the score, but the outcome is one most will agree on. Unless you’re the most die hard and optimistic Porto fan, I think the neutrals will all favor United.

Players such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes can come out and join their manager in saying 2004 is not on the minds of the players for various reasons, but you have to think that in some way, the players that were at United when Jose Mourinho’s Porto knocked United out at Old Trafford in the last minute will want to put the ghosts that haunt them away for good of that famous night. Player for player this time around, United are far more superior and defending Champions at that. The second leg may have a bit of good luck on Porto’s side since they will host it. When these teams met in 2004, a big part of Porto’s lineup was a good chunk of the Portuguese national team. Make no mistake about it, United will win this tie, but I do think it will be a lot closer then people may think just because the second leg will be at the Estadio do Drago.

FC Barcelona (ESP) vs FC Bayern Munich (GER): First Leg at Camp Nou on the 8th, Second Leg at the Allianz Arena on the 14th

Just like the Villarreal vs Arsenal tie, this one is tight to call. A lot of folks will think the Catalans have this wrapped up, especially after seeing Bayern get thrashed 5-1 this past weekend against Wolfsburg. However, I think these ties will bring the best out of the Bavarians and to be honest, as a professional, you don’t need any extra motivation to play in the Champions League at this stage with a chance of winning the tournament.

I feel Bayern’s defense it their biggest let down. Michael Rensing, a very fine goalkeeper, doesn’t have the same presence as Oliver Kahn did and that is massive shoes to fill. Lucio has too much work to do to compensate for the mistakes of Demichelis and van Buyten on an ordinary day let alone the prospect of facing Messi, Henry, Eto, Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta, and Danny Alves coming at you. I think we’ll see a high scoring affair in this one. I look forward seeing Frank Ribery, Luca Toni and Miroslave Klose going against the Barcelona back four and the weak link is undoubtedly Rafa Marquez so be sure Jurgen Klinsmann will look to exploit that. Also, Ribery does not get enough praise and he is just as good as Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo. In a high scoring affair and the most entertaining tie of the round, the Catalans will prevail.

Editor’s Note: WVH is a Bayern fan, but he’s with Geoff on this one…Bayern has looked very weak defensively lately and you just can’t go into a match with a poor defense when a club has a Henry, Messi and other waiting. But to be more honest WVH cares a little more about the next pairing as he’s a bigger Blues fan than Bayern.

Liverpool FC (ENG) vs Chelsea FC (ENG): First Leg at Anfield on the 8th, Second Leg at Stamford Bridge on the 14th

Yawn. For the fifth time in five years these two sides meet and it will be the way it always is: tight, narrow affairs and don’t be surprised if it goes to penalties or the tie being decided on away goals. Unless you’re a red or a blue, this tie won’t be very entertaining. The interesting fact regarding these two clubs is the one who’s hosted the second leg has moved onto the next round in the knock out rounds (the second year they were both drawn in the same group).

I think with the second leg being in west London, that should give Chelsea the advantage. However, Liverpool have beaten Chelsea twice already this season, once at the Bridge. That was before Guus Hiddink became caretaker manager and he is one of the best and so is Rafael Benitez. While I think Phil Scolari was a top manager, Hiddink has given a new lease of life to Chelsea and because the second leg at home for the Blues, I think that will be the ultimate difference. If it would have been at Anfield I’d be picking Liverpool.

So my semi-final picks are: Arsenal vs Manchester United and Barcelona vs Chelsea. They’ll probably be completely wrong because predictions never pan out and that’s the beauty of this sport. It’s why this is the best sport in the world. And stepping back on this side of the pond, it’s also important that we all get behind the Puerto Rico Islanders this week in their quest to gun down Cruz Azul. How amazing would it be that the Islanders from USL-1 would face off against the European Champions in January?