Your Soccer Weekend Winners and Losers

BAE: A huge loser (and not just because he suits up for Spurs)

Now’s as good a time as any to install a new feature in which we hope to recap the weekend in a predictably light and bloggy fashion.

In a move sure to engorge the Gunner masses at UF, the inaugural Biggest Man On Campus this weekend has to be Arsene Wenger. This weekend saw the Frenchman run roughshod over the EPL, and possibly even soccer at large.

With news of impending legal action against the Dutch FA settling in the mind (see our next post), his half-time pep talk turned around a shocking first-half performance at Anfield to take home a comfortable three points when all signs pointed to yet another demoralizing, soft defeat against a team of note (though, it must be said, Liverpool’s lackluster form in 09/10 is threatening to take away that distinction).

Cesc Fabregas couldn’t help but gush over the Frenchman’s unusually aggressive dressing room dress-down that inspired the team to victory: “The boss screamed. He was really disappointed with us in the first half. I’ve never seen him like that before. He said we didn’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt and he was right because we really weren’t good, we weren’t up for it. But that gave us a boost and the second half was one of the best second halves we have played this season.”

And so, Arsenal’s players and fans are waking up this morning to a season that still has great potential thanks to their great escape and the slip-ups by both Chelsea and Manchester United.

And so, begrudgingly, Wenger takes home the UF spoils to round out the weekend.

Other Winners:

- Banfield
Give props to the Argentine club from the Buenos Aires suburbs, as the 113-year-old club won its first ever Argentine Primera Division this weekend, despite losing 2-0 at Boca Juniors. The earlier 2-0 defeat for Newell’s Old Boys at San Lorenzo crowned El Taladro, a club founded by British immigrants who worked on Argentina’s railroads, and celebrations were muted at Boca’s ground until the team could get back across town to party with their own people on home turf.

- Ryan Giggs
I’m still confused how the Welshman won PFA honors last term, though further puzzlement occurs when I try to figure out just how he won BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. Besides being ageless and hirsute, I’m not sure what he’s done to win such accolades, though I’m certainly impressed. Never mind the 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa; Giggs is the Beeb’s best!

- Ezequiel Garay
While Barcelona seem unstoppable in La Liga play, there is still the diamond-studded assemblage in the nation’s capital looking to topple the Catalonians, and thanks to an Argentine center-back who barely ever plays (7 appearances in 2009/10), the Galacticos are still within kissing distance at the top of the table. Pepe’s injury before half-time paved Garay’s way into the fray, and in the 83rd minute, his header off a Xabi Alonso free-kick earned the visitors a precious 3-2 away win against a decent Valencia team. It’s certainly a good way to signal your potential value to the team, and with Pepe facing a sizable spell on the sidelines after landing awkwardly on his knee, there might be plenty more opportunities for Garay in the foreseeable future.

WEEKEND LOSERS:

- Carlo Ancelotti
Chelsea have been far and away the EPL’s best team this season, and yet an 0-2-2 month of December has the Italian confused and wondering just what the problem is. With Michael Essien lost to injury and the African Cup of Nations with further departures to follow, the signs of frailty creeping into the Blues’ backline must have him concerned.  After all, the league is still wide open for two or three teams, and now’s not the best time to go on a winless skid.

- Rafael Benitez
Fire him. Immediately.

- AC Milan
The sight of Internazionale dropping points is an early Xmas gift for the Rossonieri, though their limp 2-0 defeat at Palermo repays their cross-town rivals with the upper hand yet again.

- Benoit Assou-Ekotto
The Spurs left-back allegedly confronted a fan next to the tunnel after his side’s inexplicable 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Police are reviewing CCTV footage, and the club is remaining quiet about the incident until an official verdict is handed down. It’s always good to follow losses with police reports, but most galling of all is that it’s Assou-Ekotto in the mix. I didn’t think he even liked soccer!