Newcastle 0 – 3 Liverpool

Two teams whose style of play could hardly be called inspiring made for a match I wasn’t looking forward to watching.

Newcastle began like the away side, conceding ground and adopting a 5-3-2 formation at times. It took the whole of 10 minutes for them to begin venturing forward but when they did they came across a Liverpool side equally willing to get men behind the ball.

Liverpool however maintained their momentum, largely due to the home side’s inability to keep possession, and continued to tenuously probe a nervous Newcastle back line.

Torres, who was looking lively, won a free kick within shooting range on 27mins which Gerrard duly sent arrowing into the top corner of the net.

It was a regular day at the office for Liverpool following this as they hung back and rarely got numbers forward. Newcastle had little response as they struggled to get their front men involved and on the one occasion they did on 37mins they saw Viduka’s lay off to Smith produce a speculative volley which was well wide.

The visitors looked to catch the Geordies on the break and just before half time they almost did so perfectly. A through ball found Torres 40 yards from goal but clear through but his shot was blocked by a quick-to-react Given. The ball came back to the Spaniard who saw his attempt to pass it into an empty net come off the post.

Newcastle needed a big change for the second half as it really wasn’t working for them. But in less than a minute they were further behind. Gerrard swung in a low corner came though to ricochet off Kuyt’s shin and into the back of the Newcastle net.

There wasn’t much of a response from a truly clueless looking Newcastle with their fans not given much hope bar the introduction of Milner on 55mins.

Liverpool were in cruise control with Torres occupying the home side’s defence, twice showing his close control as he drove in to the box only to be let down by poor finishing.

It had already looked like game over for Newcastle before they were caught on the counter by Babel’s pace. The Dutch winger played a one-two off Gerrard in the box before smashing the ball home to put the final nail in Newcastle’s coffin.

It could have been worse shortly after as twice Torres was played through but again was found wanting in front of goal.

A completely dispirited Newcastle saw the visitors dominate the end stages as the home fans deserted St.James’ Park.

Liverpool’s economical brand of football serves them well again and leaves Newcastle on the brink of (yet another) crisis.

Movie Round Up

Transformers (2007 / USA)

Almost every aspect of this was a disappointment to me. I was willing to suspend judgement over the teen romance sub-plot and the Saturday-morning-cartoon humour as these are part and parcel of such a Hollywood blockbuster. The aspects that got to me where the ones that should’ve been there to appease the other demographics. The robots all looked the same, moved unconvincingly and were nothing like the battle hardened soldiers they’re meant to be. The battles between them (especially the finale) were woefully choreographed, confusing and just plain dull. Kiddies only methinks.

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007 / USA)

A different type of film to previous instalments with the undead taking centre stage in something akin to Day of the Dead meets Mad Max 2. The preposterous “big scenes” are surprisingly amusing, as is the main premise, as a much needed sense of tongue in cheek has crept in to the series. The quality of the zombies is worthy of mention also, if that’s of priority to you then this is a must see. Otherwise if you’re up for some harmless fun you could do worse than this.

Infection (2004 / Japan)

Interesting but slow J-Horror which does it’s best to be clever and different. Notable for its disturbing atmosphere but let down by the dull death sequences. Overall a fairly average addition to the genre (complete mandatory confusing twist at the end).

Beetlejuice (1988 / USA)

A hotch-potch, nonsense of a film only worth a watch due to it’s quality non-CGI special effects and genuinely dark scenes / imagery of the afterlife.

Premiership Round Up - November

This month I'm going to post my team of the season so far:

Premiership XI (as of end Nov07)

-----------Agbonlahor(AV)----------Anelka(Bolton)----------
---------------------Elano(ManC) ----------------------------
M.Petrov(ManC)----------------------------Arteta(Everton)
---------------------Fabgregas(Arsenal----------------------
Evra(ManU)-----------------------------------Sagna(Arsenal)
-------------Dunne(ManC)--------Vidic(ManU)--------------
------------------------Friedel(BB)---------------------------

You might wonder where the likes of Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard etc are but these, I feel, are the individuals who have contributed the most to their teams efforts this season as opposed to the outright best players.

Birmingham 1 - 2 Aston Villa

Another local derby and another excuse for primitive, ugly football in the name of “getting stuck in” and “keeping it tight” under the guise of there being “pride at stake” etc??? Not really, it has to be said.

There was a surprisingly open beginning to the game with Birmingham looking to exert some early pressure. In an answer to this Villa were getting the ball to Carew early in a bid to counter. The Norwegian giant fluffed his first proper chance on 8mins but the resulting corner saw the ball bounce off a flat-footed Ridgewell’s knee and into his own net.

What followed was a period of typically tenacious midfield battling. From one of these scuffles saw Barry come away, on 16misn, to set up Carew but his close range effort was well saved.

Birmingham began to get some joy once the game settled and they got their widemen more involved. Both DeRidder and Kapo got chances but their finishing let them down. Indeed DeRidder may well have had a penalty on 31mins when he was tripped as he dashed into the box but instead he was booked for diving!

Villa had the better of the chances in the first half with Carew blasting over form 20 yards after a mix up in the Birmingham defence and late on when Agbonlahor beat the offside trap with his pace only to see his low drive saved by Taylors feet.

Birmingham looked like they could do with someone in midfield to get on the ball and supply their talented wingers and able front-man.

The second half saw the home team go to 4-4-2 with Forsell coming on to partner Jerome. The half began at a good tempo with both defences stretched and it looked like only a matter of time before a match-changing goal would be scored.

Forsell looked like the most likely to do so and came close with two effort close to the hour. On 61mins, DeRidder in space down the right swung in a great ball which Forsell duly obliged with a bullet header from 7yards to make it 1-1.

Birmingham seemed to find an extra level of determination following the equaliser and came close to going ahead 5mins later. Jerome latched onto a long ball to cut inside from the left and force a magnificent save from Carson.

The home side were certainly on the front foot at this time but Reo-Coker could’ve restored Villa’s lead, against the run of play, but he skied his volley form 7 yards on 69mins.

Birmingham seemed to run out of steam as the game became very stretched with defences getting ever deeper. Indeed it was Villa who were making the push for a winner in the closing stages of the match.

They did have a scare though as Ridgewell almost made up for his own-goal on 84mins when he connected well with a corner kick but Agbonlahor on the post to clear off the line.

2 minutes later it was roles reversed as the young Villa forward lost the Birmingham centre-back at the back post to send a well directed header back across goal and past Taylor to make it 2-1. Villa played out the remaining 7 minutes in Birmingham’s half as the home side looked a spent force.

It was a game where neither side’s defence looked rock-solid but Birmingham in particular looked like they’ll continue to struggle to keep clean sheets. Villa still didn’t look like they’ve made the step up to be genuine contenders for a European place but all that could change come the January transfer window.

Sunderland 1 - 1 Newcastle

The match began with the intensity expected of a local derby which also unfortunately made for very little football being played. Long balls and hopeful set-pieces were standard fare for the opening stages.

The first notable move (I don’t count head tennis!) led to a decent chance, as on 14mins the ball found Wallace free at the back post only for the full-back to volley over.

When the game did finally settle down the home team had the best of the play. Newcastle’s narrow midfield wasn’t effective going forward leaving the strikers to fend for themselves. Owen and Viduka both created half-chances but never really got the support they deserved as Sunderland began to press for a goal.

The best chance of the half fell to Grant Ledbitter on 33mins. Having just shot wide from Sunderland’s earlier move, he again was off target with a header from 6 yards.

For sides who might become reliant on set pieces they were both guilty of poor delivery time after time.

The half ended with a great turn and shot by Chopra on the edge of the Newcastle box but his shot drew a good save from a full-stretch Harper.

Newcastle stuck with their negative looking 4-1-2-3 for the second half and it was same again as Sunderland looked likeliest to break the deadlock.

On 51mins, a quick corner played in Leadbitter and his superb cross found Higginbottom arriving late at the far post to nod home and give the home side a deserved lead.

Newcastle woke up somewhat after this and as their midfielders were allowed more freedom they began to knock the ball about better. This opened the game up but only as much as the persistent fouling permitted.

On 64mins, Milner found some space on the left to whip a low ball into the box that somehow crept past Gordon and into the corner of the net. It was an equaliser Newcaslte hardly deserved.

Finally it looked as though we had a match on our hands as things went end to end. Jones had a chance to retake the lead moments after the goal but he blasted wide after making room on the edge of the box. A minute later Owen got on the end of a long kick-out, managed to fashion a chance against 2 defenders but his shot was straight at Gordon.

Both sides gave it a go with little success and in the closing stages it was really only Sunderland who remained hungry as the visitors settled for a draw.

Gundam : Char’s Counterattack

This film oddly starts as you might expect it to end, with Amuro and Char battling each other as Earth faces yet another catastrophe. Char’s brand spanking new monster of a suit ,the Sazabi, is introduced right from the off whilst the Neo-Gundam’s abilities are only hinted at as something is spared for the climax. The immediate gratification of some Mobile Suit space-war action is more than welcome, if a little confusing at first. The introductions of several new characters, between the explosions, are handled well especially considering the time restraints not present in the more familiar (Gundam) medium of a TV series.

Things soon settle down as the more political end of the Gundam spectrum comes into play and we are filled in on the reasons and outcomes of the preceding battle. This period offers up the usual notions of man’s evolution, ineffective corrupt governments and the shades of grey between ideologies in the expected sombre manner. True philosophies seem to be coming to a head in the Gundam universe for the first time since the end of the original (0079) series and, indeed, this film could be seen as somewhat of a climax to the previous series in the timeline.

The second hour is very satisfyingly dedicated to a large scale battle in space. This is where you begin to notice the graphical improvements over the previous Zeta series (the images of the colonies are easily the best depictions of them seem in the canon to date –well 1988)

The expected climax with the Neo-Gundam is perhaps slightly disappointing, and certainly the character death toll is nothing like that of a TV series, but all in all it delivers everything a Gundam fan would be looking for – advancement of the over-arching narrative, interesting new suits blowing each other up and plenty of melodrama.