Soccer Hero

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Introducing the Newest Rooney

Welcome to the world Kai Rooney, you’re in for a bumpy ride.

First the day old son of Manchester United superstar Wayne Rooney and his childhood sweetheart Coleen will spend his first weeks all over the papers as people speculate why the first couple of English soccer chose such a name in the first place. After all Wayne has always seemed a pretty down to earth bloke (for a multi millionaire soccer player)

Some people have speculated it is after a character in the Mortal Kombat video game series, while others think that Coleen (who her mother says was the one to pick out the name) may have gone for its meaning in other languages. In Burma it means unbreakable, in Nigeria it can mean love, in Japan it translates to "the ocean" and in Chinese Mandarin it means victory. In ancient Persian it meant "Great King" and in Scandinavia "keeper of the keys".

To add a little extra pressure on the lad British bookmakers William Ladbrokes have started taking bets on what Rooney Jr (his middle name is Wayne) might do with his future. They currently have him at 100/1 to play in the Premier League, 125/1 to play for Manchester United and 150/1 to gain a full England cap.

Win a $25 Gap Gift Certificate

Soccer Source Competition.
Rooney, Torres or someone else. Who will score the most goals in the Premiership this year and why? We want your opinions. Leave your comments here and make sure to leave your real email address. Best comment wins a $25 Gap gift certificate. Winner to be chosen on Tuesday November 3rd 2009.

Drew and the Seattle Sounders

Great interview with comedian Drew Carey about his Seattle Sounders and their MLS playoff chances, as well as what makes his team so unique in the world of soccer.

Swine Flu Hits Blackburn Rovers

Swine flu (or H1N1 as it is properly known) has been hitting the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic for a while now. But now it has apparently found its way to Blackburn Rovers, with at least 3 players being ruled out of the English Premiership club’s Carling Cup tie against Petersborough on Tuesday.

Manager Sam Allardyce confirmed the fact to the BBC but would not name the players involved, although on the club website it is stated that a “virus” was to blame for David Dunn and Chris Samba missing the Saturday 5-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

At the same press conference Big Sam said the team only decided to play at Stamford Bridge at the weekend because Premiership rules held them to the fixture, and according to Allardyce he was told it was too late on Friday to call the game off, even if other players were at risk for contracting the virus.

No so, say the league. A spokesman told BBC Sport "Blackburn made contact with the Premier League on Friday to report the outbreak of swine flu but did not request for the fixture against Chelsea to be postponed. The Premier League does not anticipate at this stage a situation where any game will be postponed as a result of swine flu.”

So it is with whatever team they can field that Rovers will face the challenge on Tuesday night. And given the drubbing they were handed by Lampard and Co and the fact that their opponents next weekend are Manchester United it was probably time for Sam to make some serious lineup changes anyway.

Is a Big Four Shakeup on the Cards in the EPL?

For once the top of the English Premiership is tighter than Cristiano Ronaldo’s short shorts. None of them put in a very convincing performance this week, while other teams on their heels played some beautiful soccer and got great results.

Manchester United have not looked dominant or that impressive at all this season, although Ferguson won’t admit it. No Wayne Rooney against Bolton almost led to their undoing. So what happens if the side is Wayne less for a long period of time?

Chelsea looked no better in their defeat at the hands of a solid Aston Villa who do not seem to be missing Gareth Barry over much. John Terry and Frank Lampard both look well under par and what the hell is Peter Cech wearing on his head?

And then there is Liverpool. Beach ball incident aside, without Gerrard and Torres on the pitch they look very poor indeed.

Although Arsenal are looking ok, they seem to have a problem hanging on to lead, especially at 2-0, and no one player is dominating so far.

And despite all the money Mark Hughes was allowed to splash around this summer it is two other teams (with a much smaller payroll) that seem to be the ones to watch – Aston Villa and Sunderland. Both teams put in the work every game and the graft is paying off.

Speaking of Sunderland, I for one seriously want Fabio Cappello to explain the rationale of leaving out Darren Bent from England’s recent qualifiers, because the man is practically on fire at the moment, even if he did get a bit of a break from a spot of poor referring last weekend.

Beach Ball Ref to be Investigated.

On the same day that Alex Ferguson learned that he will be facing charges for the fact that he suggested that an English Premiership referee was not quite fit to do his job, one of them will be facing scrutiny from the FA himself.

Mike Jones was the official who let Darren Bent’s balloon assisted goal against Liverpool stand on Saturday when the laws of football (which the referee is there to enforce) state clearly that such a goal should have been disallowed, since the game should have been halted as soon as the “outside interference”, in this case a Liverpool themed beach ball apparently thrown onto the pitch by a toddler, occurred.

While his error is investigated Ref Jones is being demoted next weekend to oversee a Champions League game instead of the top flight game he was scheduled for. A number of professionals, including former referees have expressed their shock at the glaring error.

To give credit where its due, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez did not cry in public about the non goal dismissing it as “a very technical question”. He was more concerned about his team putting in another lackluster performance. Alex Ferguson made no comments about the affair either, although he must be having a nice little chuckle in private.