The Football Addick

This is it. The biggest game of the year. Whoever wins will gain huge momentum going into their closing two games; whereas the loser will face an uphill struggle to win the title. Manchester United go into the game 3 points better off then their City rivals, and therefore have a huge advantage going into the game. However they have looked somewhat shaky in recent weeks, dropping points at the likes of Wigan and Everton, which have allowed Man City back into the title race. City in contrast have been in sparkling form, trouncing Norwich 6-1 and West Brom 4-0 in order to close the gap on United. United have the experience, but City have home advantage, who will topple their rivals and emerge victorious? Because Man City are 3 points behind, anything other than a win will surely extinguish any hope of winning their first Barclays Premier League title. However, United have experienced these situations before and risen to the occasion, which must make them heavy favourites to emerge...

Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea (Chelsea win 3-2 on Aggregate) Yesterday proved that miracles can happen. With the odds stacked against them, Chelsea performed what can only be described as a miracle, as they held off the world’s best team in order to reach the finals of Europe's most prestigious tournament. Although coming to the Camp Nou with a mere 1 goal advantage, Chelsea were still considered as massive underdogs, and many of the top pundits immediately erased all hope of Chelsea overcoming the reigning world champions and reaching the final. I for one believed that Chelsea stood little or no chance before kickoff, predicting that Barcelona would show Chelsea a footballing lesson and send them back to England empty handed. But no one would've predicted the unexplainable events that were to follow. In an incredible game that was jam packed with controversy, action and moments of magic, the contest would surely go down as one of Europe's greatest ever games. Chelsea skipper...

22nd April 2012 After Chelsea 's controversial second goal against Tottenham on Sunday, surely it's time for goal line technology to be put in place. Referees need help when being put into a tricky situation and the use of technology will eliminate any mistakes made by the referees in the modern day game. The use of technology will also add an element of fairness into the game, whilst also ensuring that the referees have made the correct decision when it comes to one of these incidents. Time and time again, a massive debate goes on after a controversial goal has been scored, and surely it’s the right time to get rid of all these arguments. But the question is, why hasn’t technology in the modern game been introduced? And why are FIFA continuously letting these dubious incidents occur without doing anything about it!?  Juan Mata's goal on the weekend has resparked the ongoing 'technology in football' debate For me, technology has to be called in as soon as...

Liverpool and Chelsea both emerged victorious in the semi finals, earning the right to contest the FA cup final this season. Liverpool overcame a threatening Everton side 2-1, whereas Chelsea took apart Tottenham in the last 10 minutes to come away with a fortuitous 5-1 thrashing. Both teams have had their fair share of struggles this year, and both sides will be eager to add another piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet. Everton 1-2 Liverpool Liverpool goal scorers Suarez (left) and Carroll (right) celebrate their sides win Liverpool showed both great strength of character and spirit to overcome their Merseyside rivals in a thrilling encounter. Everton took the lead after a defensive mix up between Carragher and Agger. Hesitance at the back led to Carragher’s eventual clearance ricocheting off Tim Cahill and fortuitously into the path of Jevalic, who showed great composure to tuck the ball under the onrushing Brad Jones and send Everton fans into raptures. Everton then...

We are going up, say we are going up! It's been a long time coming, but there is no doubt that it has been worth the wait. Since 2007 Charlton have tumbled down the leagues, suffering relegation to the Championship in 2007 and than another relegation to League One in 2009. Since I've been a fan I've experienced all the lows and not too many highs, so this is a season that is going to be extremely memorable for me, and one I'll look back on with pride for many years to come. Just to cross the line and achieve promotion back to the second tier of English football comes as a massive relief to everyone connected with Charlton, and it finally ends a 5 year run of sheer disappointment. Addicks legend Chris Powell has delivered success in his first season in charge of Charlton Athletic What emphasises Charlton’s success is that before the season, they were written off by a number of pundits. Most notably, 4-4-2 predicted that Charlton would finish 13th. Bet they feel sill...

As a follower of Liverpool for mostly my entire life, never have I seen a Liverpool side in as much chaos and turmoil as the current one. To put it simply; they are shambles. Since the Carling Cup win in February, I expected Liverpool to push on and really challenge for a place in the top 4, but sadly, the opposite has happened. The lack of belief and determination in many of the senior players in my opinion is unacceptable. Many seem as if they are resigned to losing, feeling sorry for themselves rather than doing anything to improve the position of Liverpool Football Club. That being said, is Kenny the man to push Liverpool forward? 'The King's' Liverpool side have been particuarly dissapointing in the Premier League this season In January 2011, to the jubilance and excitement of Liverpool fans all across the world, Kenny 'King' Dalglish was appointed Liverpool manager. He replaced Roy Hodgson, who was extremely unpopular and his sacking was greeted with...

With all the favoured clubs expected to progress failing to disappoint, the semi finals this year promise to be the best for a long while. With Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, accompanied by Chelsea and Germany 's Bayern Munich, the semi finals is bound to be exciting. Barcelona , Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have looked convincing as they cruised through the tournament with considerable ease, whereas Chelsea may count themselves lucky to have made it to this stage of the competition. Nevertheless, Chelsea still pose a huge threat and as underdogs, have nothing to lose in their bid to be Europe ’s top club for the first time in their history. Semi Final 1 - Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich Badstuber and Boateng will need to be at their best if Bayern wish to progress to the final A lot has been said about Real Madrid this year and how convincing they have looked both domestically and in Europe , and they will undoubtedly be the favourites in this clash between t...

Bayern Munich vs Marseille 2-0 (4-0 on aggregate)  Olic celebrating his second goal of the night Bayern marched into the semi finals in classy fashion after a comprehensive 4-0 aggregate win over French side Marseille. Following on from a 2-0 win in Marseille, Bayern were the clear favourites and came back to home turf with a huge advantage. Although resting some of their key players including prolific goal scorer Mario Gomez, Bayern showed their world class expertise with an assured performance and eventually ran out 2-0 winners. Olic, filling in for the rested Gomez, claimed the two Bayern goals with typical poacher like finishes. Firstly he converted a Ribery cross, before turning in a teasing low Alaba cross after great work from Ribery to take his tally for the night to two and secure their passage into the last 4. That's how it stayed, and Bayern will now face Real Madrid for a place in the final which is sure to be a cracker. Real Madrid vs APOEL 5-2 (8...