Bye! November 2005

I'll travel down to the south of Taiwan tomorrow, and join a basketball cup with my department team in university. So I won't be here until Sunday, and unfortunately, missing Liverpool's weekend match. I'll post the two matches: tonight's and weekend's as I come back.

The basketball cup is for all the English/foreign languages departments of universities in Taiwan. I've been in the team since my first year, and this is my third time to join the tournament. Well, I will never forget about last year's, as we were just 6 players in the team. That was really tough time. I'm glad this year we have more new players from freshmen. Some of them are really great additions to the team. Hopefully we can get good results, as well as boys' team.

I'll bring back some pictures....well, erm.....if I do remember to take out my camera.

November has passed, and here comes my favorite December!!!

Goal!

I think most football fans have been looking forward to this film for a long time like me. My brother just had a 4-day holiday from the army, so we went to the cinema for it last Saturday. The film started to show on Friday night, well, only two times a day, 9:25 PM and 2:00 AM. Yeah, as you can imagine, people here are just not that into football. There were over half empty seats in the cinema. People who sat in front of me were a family from Hong Kong, as well as some young boys behind me.

My friend works in the cinema. She said she really didn't know how to answer when customers asked what the film was about. I just told her: "Well, you just ask him/her: do you watch football?....I mean soccer. If the answer is no, tell him/her 'you won't like it'. Simple one."

So....how was it? My opinion: Amazing! The plot is predictable, but it's really interesting to see those.... Newcastle, St James'Park, Shearer, etc. *Spoilers* There was a match between Newcastle and Liverpool!! lol You can easily guess who won it in the end. Well....at least the director considers Liverpool the biggest rival to Newcastle.

Oh, one more thing made me giggle many times was the Newcastle accent. I finally hear it clearly as most people in the film speak with that. Just so interesting!! By the way, I like the design of the official site. Recently I'm interested in website designing, and just find out that some official sites of films are really great.

4th Consecutive Premiership Win!

26 Nov 2005 Man City 0-1 Liverpool - EPL

Zenden didn't in the squad because of a knee injury and would miss the next three or four weeks. Alonso was still out, suffering some pain in the knee, while Garcia returned after missing the midweek clash against Real Betis.

Gerrard missed the perfect chance to give Liverpool a lead in the first half when he burst through into the box on the left and hit a curling shot just narrowly wide. But after 10 minutes after the half time, he made up for it by assisting a goal for Riise. Hamann threaded a pass to the feet of Riise, who exchanged passes with Gerrard on the edge of box before firing a powerful left-foot drive pass David James.

Now Liverpool leapfrogged Man City in the Premiership table with the fourth consecutive Premiership victory, and also the sixth successive cleansheet. Watch out! Pool are going UP!!!!

Carra: Crouch, Man of the Match

23 Nov 2005 Liverpool 0-0 Real Betis - CL MatchDay 5

Alonso and Garcia both failed to recover from injuries, thus Sissoko joined the midfield with Gerrard, Hamann and Zenden. Strikers Crouch and Morientes were in the starting 11, along with Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, and Riise at the back, while Cisse was droped.

Liverpool dominated and were obviously the more threatening side, creating 28 shots on goal. Gerrard created most of the chances for strikers with his dominant force in midfield, but were wasted as Betis held on for a point from the Anfield. Crouch made efforts to hit his first Liverpool goal, but again struggled to seize the opportunity. However, he's not the only one as Morientes also missed some good chances throughout the match.

Despite the draw, holder Liverpool remained top of Group G and advanced to the knockout stage, being a point ahead of Chelsea, who won 2-0 over Anderlecht and was qualified as well.

Crouch: "It was a bit frustrating tonight because I had some chances but that's the way things are going for me at the moment. I'm not going to hide though. I'm sure I'll score soon and then when I do a load more will follow."

Carragher: "Peter's not an out and out goalscorer, there's much more to his game than that. He was our best player against Portsmouth at the weekend and was one of our best players tonight. He gives us a lot of options. I know he wants to score and we're all desperate for him to score but the important thing is his performance levels have been good."

Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei

I've watched several films recently, newest and old ones. 'Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei' (also known as 'The Edukators') from Germany impressed me the most. I rented this DVD becasue of Daniel Brühl, on the left in the picture. He's also the one in 'Good Bye Lenin!', a really great film.

Okay, what is it about? The German title is translated into "your days of plenty are numbered." Hey, do you hate Capitalism somtimes? The rich are rich, and the poor are poor. Have you ever thought about having a revolution and change the world?

"Sure, things need improvement...Environmental protection, raising producer prices... But the system won't change."

"Why not? Yes, why not?"

"The nature of man is to want to be better than others. In every group, a leader emerges quickly. Plus, most people are happy only when buying something new."

"Happy? Think they're happy, Hardenberg? Look around. Get out of that company car... Walk on the street! Anyone look happy? Or more like scared animals? Look into their living rooms. All glued to the TV... Listening to chic zombies... Speaking of a happiness long gone.
Drive around town. You'll see all the filth, the overcrowding... The masses in department stores... Up and down, like robots on escalators. Nobody knows anybody. They think happiness is an inch away. But it's unreachable, because you stole it. That's how it is. You know perfectly well.
But I have news for you, executive... The system is overheated. We're just the forerunners. Your time is almost over. Swim in your shit technology, but others are full of rage. The rage of children living in slums, watching American action films. That's one part. Let's see... Mental illness is rising. Serial killers, shattered souls, senseless violence... You can't sedate them with game shows and shopping. The antidepressants won't work forever either. The people have had enough of your shit system."

Very, Very Close Crouch

19 Nov 2005 Liverpool 3-0 Portsmouth - EPL

BBC - Crouch's first-half penalty was saved by Jamie Ashdown, but Boudewijn Zenden spared the Liverpool striker's blushes by heading in the rebound. Pompey's best player Ashdown enjoyed little luck, the Portsmouth keeper conceding a second goal when Djibril Cisse's cross floated into the net. On 80 minutes Fernando Morientes added a third, cleverly hooking the ball in.

Crouch: "I'll do anything I can to score and if we get another penalty, I'll step up again. Okay, it was another game without a goal but I was pleased with my overall play. I felt I contributed to a great team performance."

22 Nov 2005
Gerrard: "Chelsea, of late, have had a little bit of a blip so hopefully they'll keep dropping points and we can capitalise on it.
All we've got to do is concentrate on what we're doing, keep on winning, keep moving up the table and we're all confident this season can be a success - hopefully we'll be delivering a trophy and getting involved in the title race."

Spam - Football.co.uk

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Tell all your football mates about this great site: football.co.uk. Sign up for the forum and join the discussions about all football topics. Let a bunch of friendly people welcome you in the newcomer section first. Looking forward to meet you there on the forum. Cheers.

Friendly Is Not Friendly

12 Nov 2005 Argentina 2-3 England - Friendly

BBC - Hernan Crespo put Argentina ahead from Maxi Rodrigruez's pull-back but the outstanding Wayne Rooney fired England level from David Beckham's knock-down. Walter Samuel's downward header made it 2-1 before Owen's late intervention. Owen nodded in an equaliser on 87 minutes from Steven Gerrard's pinpoint cross and headed the winner from Joe Cole's floated centre in injury time.

Rooney - The Key in World Cup
He was absolutely outstanding throughout the match! I'm sure he will again become the key player for England in the World Cup next year just like the Euro 2004.

Robinson - England No.1
He proved it again that he's the best goalkeeper in England! He had some great saves in the match against such a team like Argentina who's ranked second in the world! Well-done for him!

Owen - Top Goalscorer
Eriksson: "What more can I say about Michael Owen. If he gets three chances he will score at least two. That is Michael Owen."

Gerrard - Three Positions
Ledley King played the holding role at the begining and Gerrard was switched to the left. When Joe Cole was on for King on 58th minute Gerrard went back to his preferred central midfield. Finally, he even played as the right-back after Young was replaced by Crouch!! I have to say that he looked good at all three places! Some great passes came from him, and Owen netted the equaliser from one of his excellent crosses. Did you see that one? That was really, really precise cross and found Owen in the box!

Beckham - The Captain
I think people are being unfair to David Beckham. After the match, I still heard someone criticising him. Personally I think he did really well. His free-kicks and corners were still threatening, didn't they. Is it that people will never praise him even though he does well now? I wonder if they're watching the football he plays or just try to find something to pick on. He's surely the captain for England. People must remember what he does well for England, not just what he does wrong.

BREAKING NEWS

Overall 6.5 - that means...I AM COMING TO ENGLAND NEXT SEPTEMBER FOR ONE YEAR!!!!

Born Today

Leonardo DiCaprio(31)
Date of birth: 11 Nov 1974
[full profile]

I started to notice his acting since 'The Beach' (2000), and before that I thought he just has the face. 'Gangs of New York', 'Catch Me If You Can', and 'The Aviator' are all his recent good works. I didn't know he's still young, 31 years old!! I feel that I've been watching his films for ages! Actually I'm not a big fan, but I did watch almost his films. It's not hard to see he's a talented and potential young actor from his early films. Well, glad that 'Titanic' brought him people's attention in 1997, and now finally he's proved himself with the Golden Globe Awards for the best actor in 'The Aviator'.

Join The Army

My brother left home and joined the army yesterday. He'll be out for one year and 5 months. But hopefully he can come back earlier than that, as the time shortens every year in government's policy. Do Taiwan needs conscription? If one day China finally decide to start a war with us, well, honestly what's our army can do about it then? How can we compete with China? As people always say: each people in China spits once can be enough to sink Taiwan. And will China use force against us? At least I don't think so. Come on, it's 21 century!! One year and 5 months in the military is too long, and it's a waste of time! I even think we should adopt enlistment.

Anyway, I think my brother will miss my birthday this year, and also the World Cup next year, which is a big loss! But I'll also miss a company watching football during the time, and a good friend to share my life with...

First Away Win

5 Nov 2005 Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool - EPL

BBC - Gerrard calmly slotted home a penalty on 85 minutes after substitute Peter Crouch was fouled by Liam Ridgewell. Four minutes later, Xabi Alonso cracked in a shot that Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen probably should have kept out.

Crouch: "I was gutted I couldn't get that first goal on Saturday because I had the chances. I was delighted Xabi finished off the second, but I must admit I wanted it to be me celebrating a goal. I'm glad I played a part in the win, but obviously I'd have loved to have scored when I had the chance."

By the way, good to see Man Utd beat Chelsea this round. Now there's just 6 points between the first and second place on the table. It's time someone to make threats to the leading Chelsea, and stop the 'unbeaten' saying. But well......Wigan?? That would be weird! Though it's already weird enough about their place at the moment....

Gambler's Art

RAFA AND THE GAMBLER'S ART

"In football, a destructive opposition, the unpredictability of cause and effect, human error, and sometimes just plain bad luck, get in the way."

"Liverpool have never previously employed someone so fresh from notable, significant success, and against all the odds the European Cup was added to the manager's two La Liga titles and a Uefa Cup."

"Gerrard is such a unique player; the 'perfect' modern footballer, if you will. He can do it all. He can pass, tackle and score goals. He is tall, and he is quick. He also has boundless energy. And, the two reasons he is so effective out wide: he can beat a man, and he can whip in a deadly cross."

"No player can be signed with a certainty of success."

"Managers are paid to make tough decisions. If they feel the need for radical changes, they have to trust their instincts, no matter that radical changes often lead to problems before becoming a solution. We can all be wary of something new in life; change can make anyone uneasy, and change involves adapting."

"Like anything in football, it's not perfect. But zonal marking is clearly better, for Liverpool at least, and for the time being. It may not be the most noticeable of improvements, but it's one Rafa has made to good effect."

...Just quoted some from the great article, and you can read more on Liverpoolfc.tv.

Nando x Garcia x Cisse

1 Nov 2005 Liverpool 3-0 Anderlecht - CL MatchDay 4

BBC - Liverpool edged closer to the Champions League knockout stages thanks to goals from Fernando Morientes, Luis Garcia and Djibril Cisse.

I'm so happy that Nando finally scored a goal, and especially a brilliant one!! Hopefully he can get more for Liverpool.

Carra: "There are some players who sign for top clubs and you watch them and wonder if they're good enough to make it, but that's never been the case with Morientes at Liverpool. He's a class act and you can see what skill and quality he has. We see how good his touch is in training every day and it's just been a case of him taking it into the games. The big question has been whether he can adapt to English football, but the real reason it's not happened sooner is really down to bad luck with injuries, as far as I'm concerned."