The 91st Minute

Lampard in Sir Alex's Sights?

2012-01-08T17:50:00.000+13:00

Welcome everybody back to the infamous series of blog sites that we have ignored for some months now due to excessive alcoholism.

The lads will now be back on it getting it done in ways we thought never imaginable.

In shocking news today, myself (The Bain) was sitting in a netcafe jamming away some games (incl. FIFA12), when a conversation sparked up with a british bloke about Lampard possibly moving to Scum United.

This clearly shocked this avid Chelsea supporter, hence the yarn got a bit deeper and a touch more heated. I then yelled across the room to Carlos, the statement of which was heard by the Korean owner of said internet cafe and even he was shocked at the rumor of Lampard- a long standing Chelsea player- possibly making the move to Scum.

This blogger has one thing to say and one thing only-

I will throw up on a Lampard jersey if he makes that shocking move.

Comments are as always appreciated.

The Bain

Raul Meireles ESPN Fans Player of the Year.... Aquilani Back To Liverpool?

2011-04-22T15:00:00.004+12:00

I would love to have Roy Hodgsons' take on this one, back in summer he had splashed out on bringing FC Porto's 'exciting' midfielder to Liverpool. Under Roy Hodgsons management he has failed to live up to the expectations that had been put upon him and to fill the void which was missing due to Javier Mascherano's exit to Barcelona.

After a few hard months which all the players in the Liverpool team felt not to mention how much us fans despised the direction the team was going through under the control of Tom Hicks and George Gillett with also Roy Hodgson failing to get the team playing well together, change had to come and with that we saw new owners and saw Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish have another stint as the Liverpool boss.

Under Kenny's reign Meireles found his form during the Mersey-side Derby which saw him score a goal, Meireles kept it up with scoring an awesome right footed volley against Wolves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by9djdXeVEs&feature=fvst he continued his scoring with goals against Stoke, Chelsea and Wigan these goals gave him five goals in six games for Liverpool. Following his new found form he was named PFA Fans' Player of the Year. I for one could not have foreseen his career at Liverpool to take off this well after a lackluster start to this year, so I'm guessing that this is now egg on my face as one of my friends had said that Meireles would soon find form. I had always thought of him as a defensive mid kind of player because of his awkwardness when running with the ball at pace he seems uneasy with it on attack, not to mention he looks similar to my mate Healz. So heres to hoping he will continue to impress the rest of this season and onto next, though I'm skeptical on what role he will play next year for the team.

Also this morning it is interesting to read that Kenny Dalglish is keen to try last years flop Alberto Aquilani after he returns from his loan with Juventus, if he can find his place in the team and be able to compete with Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles and Spearing for the centre mid places then good on him but as a Liverpool fans perspective after what we saw of him last year I can't see him bringing much to the table, we did see a few glimpses of what he could do last year when he did play but all round it was a below par for the 20mil rated player, but I love to get proved wrong with players thats the great thing about football.

In other news, I think its about time Brad Bainbridge writes an article and to declare to everyone who reads this about how crap his team is on Soccer Manager.

Also check this from the 22nd Hillsborough Anniversary, pretty moving stuff if your Rafa Benitez to get a standing ovation and chanting from the crowd after being acknowledged by one of the victims family members. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXge4Ar_Dyw&feature=player_embedded

Ramos gets Real with Cup Celebrations

2011-04-22T14:08:00.003+12:00

Sergio Ramos suffered an embarrassing mishap during Real Madrid's celebration of Wednesday's King's Cup triumph when he dropped the trophy under a bus at their victory parade.

Ramos had the Cup on top of his head as the bus inched past thousands of Real fans celebrating in the centre of the Spanish capital.

As he lowered the imposing silver trophy, which weighs nine kilograms and measures 78 centimetres, it slipped from his grasp and under the front of the open-top vehicle.

The bus continued for several metres before the driver realised and photographs reproduced in local media suggested it had suffered serious damage.

This was later confirmed by Federico Alegre, the curator of the club's trophy collection, who told the 91st minute that Real had had to put a replica of the Cup on display at their Bernabeu stadium on Thursday

Japans Copa America 2011 Preview

2011-04-21T19:34:00.003+12:00

Right, so as of last week Japan had 100% confirmed they would be competing in this years Copa America. Some may be asking, Japan in a South American competition? Crazy I know but its legit.

Japan along with Mexico were invited to participate in this years competition back in 2009. Following the recent tsunami in Japan back in March, Japan had withdrawn from the competition all together but as of last week they are back on track to play.

One of the players Japan will hope to be back in action for them by the time the competition kicks of is Shinji Kagawa, he has been out since the end of January with a broken foot and is sure to miss the rest of his clubs serge for the title. Kagawa had been in fine form for his club through out the domestic season which saw him bang in 8 goals in 17 appearances for his club. To have Kagawa fit and ready for this competition will be one of Japans main concerns as he will add extra added attack with Keisuke Honda.

One player all the Japanese supporters will be hoping for to get the call up is Arsenal's on loan winger Ryo Miyaichi who has been lighting up the Eredivisie in the last two months. He has been a live wire for Feyenoord.

Besides the likes of Argentina and Brazil I am pretty sure that Japan will be one of the main contenders for this competition, they had a solid World Cup and can only go from strength to strength with the exciting talent coming through the ranks which will also compliment the experience of the older players. One other player who I would keep an eye one would be Takayuki Morimoto who has been compared to the legend Ronaldo for his strength, size and speed. Only problem is that he hasn't been hitting form for his club Catania, but nether the less hes a quality player who with the right chance he will be able to prove the doubters wrong.

I for one will be subscribing to Setanta Sports to watch all the action in the Copa America. More so to see how Chile do as well because their team should chuck up a few surprises this year!

Getafe Get Bought By Dubai...

2011-04-21T14:37:00.005+12:00

Following Wazza doing the Real Madrid and Barcelona game results (FML got it wrong). I decided I would have a little rant about Getafe being bought by the Arabs.

As of yesterday I thought the team in question to be bought by the Royal Emirates Group would be Valencia CF because they are 400millions Euros in debt. Sadly that is not the case, instead the money has gone to Getafe CF..

This will mean that Getafe will be the 3rd foreign owned club in La Liga with Malaga and Racing Santander being the other two. If I was able to ask these people one question.. It would be.. Why not fork out an extra 310million euros and try buy Valencia? because obviously money isn't a problem if you are a Royal Family and have that Oil money as well and continually build massive and elaborate structures back in your country. If they had the chance to buy them over Getafe, they would defiantly get their moneys worth and if, which I think the case will be they will be offering massive amounts of money for players to sign to the club.. Who in their right mind will want to go to Getafe? they don't have the name to command players, unless they start by offering big amounts to youth players or take youth players on loan who have been touted to have massive futures in La Liga or even to sign old timers for one last pay day..

Either way what ever they do I reckon this is going to be a HUGE flop, if they want to succeed they will have to build from the ground up and not expect success over night like when Chelsea got bought. Maybe they will have success in luring some penny merchants away from various leagues around Europe, I'll just name a few.. Gareth Barry, Mario Ballotelli maybe even Fernando Torres.. because they way hes been playing hes going to need a fresh start in Spain and since Getafe are the smallest club in Madrid maybe its a baby step for him to get back to Atletico Madrid, the club he loves so much..

Sucks to be the fans having their local team changed to Getafe Team Dubai.. Sort of lose your identity as a club with a name change no matter how small and trophy less the clubs been,buuuut maybe with a name change and a new set of players with a what will most likely be an endless flow of cash they will be able to try catch up to Barcelona or Real Madrid.. can't see it happening in this decade though..

But what do I know. Just a blogger.

By the way ups for the views yesterday got quite a bit! follllow us yoyo

Flakey Arsenal pay penalty again, Chelsea go 2nd & El Clasico just got Real

2011-04-21T12:01:00.019+12:00

Arsenal's title challenge suffered another major blow when they were held again 3-3 in the North London derby this morning. Arsenal threw away the chance to put themselves back in the Premier League title race . Arsenal had raced of to a 3-1 lead after Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie all struck in the first half, with Rafael van der Vaart notching for the home side.

But a 20-yard screamer from Tom Huddlestone before the break and a 70th-minute penalty from Van der Vaart ensured that Spurs picked up a point, meaning Arsenal dropped to third, six points behind league leaders Manchester United. It got worse for Arsenal as Chelsea overtook them into 2ND place on the table on goal difference after they beat birmingham city 3-1.

Ancelotti again left British record signing Fernando Torres and Chelsea showed he is better filling up the water on the bench then being out on the field as they scored some early goals. After beating West Bromwich Albion 3-1 on Sunday, Carlo Ancelotti's side avenged their 1-0 loss against Birmingham earlier this season to revive belief they can retain the title. The Blues took the lead in the third minute when Ferreira's cross was flicked on by Drogba and Malouda pounced to poke home from close-range. Kalou justified his inclusion as he scored with a sensational strike that saw him beat two Birmingham defenders before drilling an unstoppable shot past Ben Foster in the 26th minute. Malouda wrapped the game up with a 2ND before Birmingham city got a late goal.

Real Madrid finally beat Barcelona and won the Copa del rey(Kings Cup) and secured their first trophy since 2008. Real had the better of the first half before Barcelona took control but they were unable to find a way through. Finally, in extra-time, Ronaldo broke the deadlock with powerful header. Now there still remain two more mouth-watering matches between the rivals in the Champions League Semi-finals on April 28 and May 4. Real Manager Jose Mourinho has now won 4 domestic cups in 4 different countries after victories with FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Madrid.

In Other football news AC Milan drew 2-2 with Palermo in their Coppa Italia semi-final. Palermo will hold the upper hand heading into the 2ND leg after they scored 2 away goals. In the other semi final Inter Milan won 1-0 in their 1st leg with Roma and will be favourites to wrap the match up when they play at the San Siro in the 2ND leg.

Australia vs New Zealand showdown confirmed

2011-04-20T20:18:00.003+12:00

For all you Oceania football fans out there it has been confirmed that Australia will play host to New Zealand on June 2.

The game has been scheduled to be played at the world famous Adelaide Oval, famous for cricket that is. But there is no doubt that this game will be highly ferocious and hopefully get a bit of drama out of the two trans Tasman rivals.

No news as of yet about team selections but you would expect both teams to have their full strength sides out with the European competitions finished for the summer break. This will mean that you will expect to see Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas out on the pitch hopefully exciting the fans as much as they did this season in the A League, along with Winston Reid who has had a quiet first season in the English Premier League.

One can only pray to god that we don't see the likes of Rory Fallon on the pitch.. If so I shall not be watching this game. The All Whites need get the youngsters out to get experience so they can make the next World Cup and build on the success of last years World Cup. So we will be hoping for Chris Wood, Marco Rojas, Kosta Barbarouses to be the flair for a severely attack lacking All Whites team.

Cue for the haters..

The Great Diving Debate

2011-04-20T15:20:00.001+12:00

"im a mad gimp"

Right, so over the past week of football we have seen many questionable decisions over the weekend over diving and some of the penalty calls, more so in the Arsenal vs Liverpool game.

Step up Lucas Leiva

This video is sure to fire up a few of the Arsenal fans, in my honest opinion it was a dive.. But hey, if you can whole heartedly justify to me that Cesc Fabregas didn't fall down as easy as this then you go for gold. Yes yes you can probably tell me it had cost Arsenal its season this is true. But ah well, ish happens..

Now to exhibit B. was it a dive? malicious tackle or another case of a rogue sniper?

Everyone welcome Marcelo to 91mins.

We all have to give Marcelo a standing ovation on this, clearly he milked the lunge from Dani Alves for all it was worth. Fair play to him for successfully pulling it off, but at the end of the day Barcelona did and will have the last laugh as they are about to quite possibly pull off another treble this year.

I would love to go on about the sweet dive Mr Javier Hernandez tried to pull off this morning but I would most likely turn it into a bias rant about Manchester United and how much I dislike/hate them. So I'll let it slide. The headline from the Daily Mail pretty much sums it all up Chicha-cheato! Hernandez in diving storm as United slip gives title rivals hope.

No doubt in the coming weeks we will have some more sweet dives from diving specialist Diddy Drogba. In my opinion if some how the FA's of each footballing league could review a dive after a game and punish them accordingly for a dive it would be a huge step in football, defiantly not disallowing the goal or changing the result but to show them that if you are clearly cheating you will be punished for doing so, thats just my though though!

How to Be a Football Bandy

2011-04-20T15:00:00.000+12:00

"Bandy"

It is a word that is thrown about without question at many persons in today's society.

The definition of Bandy is quite simple. It is when one person joins the bandwagon on a particular event/ item/ sporting team while everybody else is watching it, cheering it on, or talking about it.

Come on Lads!!! The Game Starts in 10!!!

Football is something that the Bandy can be found in its natural habitat quite frequently. There are numerous competitions worldwide, all with their own marquee players that a Bandy can learn to know inside-out. Their birthdate, how they train, what they drive- even who they pork at home behind closed doors.

I got curious about this and decided to get into it further, I discussed this with fellow 91st Minute contributor Vinnie Cummins and he gave me his exact thoughts on what a Bandy is: "a fair weather fan. follows winning team and then doesn't when they do shit".

So- who's watching the Breakers tonight!!! :P

Barcelona vs Real Madrid Preview

2011-04-20T13:26:00.000+12:00

This mid week it seems to be cup week through out the world of football with many domestic cups being played. This Copa del Rey final between La Liga high flyers Barcelona and Real Madrid is the pick of the bunch, because who really wants to watch Arsenal dive all over the pitch again like when they came up against Liverpool on the weekend.

This is the 2nd game of 4 El Clasicos with the two teams meeting up with each other for the Champions League semi finals which is next week. On Saturday the two played out a 1-1 draw with Messi and Ronaldo both converting from the spot, the game was marked with controversy when Marcelo told Dani Alves he had dived to win that penalty. (diving rant will be written up sometime in the next day as there has been a bit of diving over the last week which has been causing me and the boys to fire up over certain players diving etc.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm an admirer of both Messi and Ronaldo but as you can see from the photo on the left its going to be the Messi show as it has been another phenomenal year for Messi he is truly one of the greatest players I have seen play in my 21 years on this earth. it is said Ronaldo is obsessed and jealous of Messi

I expect this game to be a fiery one and I hope it gets as heated as it did back in November when Barcelona pumped Real Madrid 5-0 so heres hoping that Sergio Ramos has another sook again!

My prediction on this is 3-1 to Barcelona. Messi(2) David Villa (1) and I'll give the Real Madrid goal to Benzema

Premier League: Tottenham v Arsenal Preview

2011-04-20T12:06:00.000+12:00

Who is ready for the North London Derby? I'm Not because I would rather watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey Final which is Spain's premier cup competition but due to sky not showing the match I will be hoping for a thrilling match between these 2 north London Teams.

Arsenal's title hopes are hinging on balance after their draw with Liverpool on Monday. Arsenal looked to have closed the gap on Man United, but a late penalty from the mighty ugly Dirk Kuyt in the 103rd minute(Yes 13 minutes of injury time) put Man United aka Scum United the firm favorites for the title. It would mean that Arsenal would have to go for a sixth consecutive season without a trophy.

Spurs have enjoyed a magical run in this season's European tournament that included defeats of Inter Milan, AC Milan, Werder Bremen and Dutch champions Twente before they were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid. However Their Premier league form has dipped in 20111 and i see it getting worse as the weeks come by. Liverpool are still struggling to get back in the top 4 after another poor season and it will be either City or Spurs taking the 4th champions league spot.

Both Arsenal and Spurs come into the match in poor form after they have managed just one victory apiece in their last five matches. However i feel Arsenal have more to play for tomorrow and will need a victory to have any chance of catching United. Spurs are still struggling with injuries to their defenders and will need a win to ensure they stay with City in the race for a champions league spot next season.

The 91st Minute Prediction
Arsenal 2-0

Here is what happened last time the 2 played each other