WORLD PEACE... SOCCER AT LAST

World peace at last... or not. Soccer is back, been back for the last close to 3 weeks. Everyone is happy... except the hating ass soap opera loving gay homies, and the larger percentage of ladies. That's beside the point. Soccer is here and that's what matters. EPL, La Liga... the rest. And also promising, is this season's Champion's League.

Am really looking forward to see who the Manchester pair will draw. I hope City draw Barca or Real. Am still bitter that they pipped us to the title last season, and that Mancini did that 'yap yap' sign language at Fergie. Somebody needs to put them back in their old place. They seem comfy in their new place though, I acknowledge ... almost at the top of the league having won 2 out of 2 games, and 3 out of 3 if you choose to include the Shield. They have conceded 6 goals in the process though, which is a good thing. It shows they're not invincible(I like to console myself on behalf of Man United)

Arsenal still haven't found their rhythm back with their new signings,  after selling two of their greatest assets. Now, if Walcott and Vermaelen left, that team would be no different from Swansea, full of unknown talent. Liverpool, they continued where they left off last season. Playing well in their big games, and playing SHIT in the other games.

Chelsea. One word... Champions. Them boys are playing like they are being coached by Brendan Rodgers. Whats more... the drought is over for Torres. We are all happy for him, eh? Even those of us on a dry spell, eh? NO? I didnt think so.

Real Madrid and Barca renewed their rivalry. Real got lucky, that game could have ended with a higher score in favour of the Catalans. In the league... they only have one point, Barca 6. I dont think I need to tell you what happens when Barca establishes a gap between your team and them. And Messi is again continuing with his characteristic brilliant from. They definitely haven't started well. Neither have PSG, with all their signings(Ibra, T Silva and Lavezzi). They haven't won a game in three that they've played till now.

Signing of the summer.... Hazard, Van Persie, Kagawa or Song? I will let you chose. I know we all weren't happy about Hazard joining Chelsea(that's water under the bridge now) and neither we the Arsenal fans when RVP joined United. Here are some comments from twitter that day:

@njiiru

Rvp,1 good season & he's gone,it's like kibaki vying for U.S Presidency coz of thika superhighway 

@Brunye: RVP ni kama ule dame unamtoa ocha alafu akisha janjaruka,anaanza kukuambia "Your not my type!"  

@mainneli: My Girlfriend pulled an RvP on me,on her good season,she agreed personal Terms with my Enemy. 

@masaku_: Sasa instagram ya RVP itajaa picha zake next to trophy za manure kama ameeka gang signs like a G.  

KPL.... John Baraza continues to lead the scorers with 17 goals. I thought Allan Wanga could make it to top scorer this season. I was actually betting on it but it seems he never fully recovered from that injury when he came back. He has 6 goals. AFC Leopards top the league with 44 points. At the bottom, Oserian and Rangers FC with 19 and 20 points respectively.

Last but not least in other news, Harambee Stars have a new manager. Frenchman Henri Michel is the man charged with running the affairs of the national team. I hope he gets full co-operation from the people who run the football around here though. It is also good news that Manchester United, partnering with Airtel are sponsoring sports clinic in .KE right now. It shows at least they believe that Kenya has talent elsewhere, apart from only what we are forced to see. 

That said, I wish to remind you all about the Soccer Tweet Up on Saturday 8th September. It is a free event, so all are welcome to attend

September Soccer Tweet-up

September is here, Premier League Soccer is back. And so is our usual soccer tweet up. Every first Saturday of the month remember? This time 8th September at Kilimani Primary School, just past Yaya Centre. We decided to change our previous location... Slightly. Some of our friends thought Saint George Primary was a little too far from the road.

So, directions.... From town, board a bus/Nissan, Route No. 46, at GPO or Railways bus station and get off at Kilimani Primary School(just past Yaya Centre). It is on the road so you will not get lost.

So all you soccer loving fans... This is your time to shine. Hehe. Its a fun thing where we all get to socialize, catch up, play soccer and basically 'bust a move' on the other peeps. Later on we go for Lunch at Cactus(usually the best part since not every one might love soccer, but everyone loves food). It is a free event, and anyone, not necessarily soccer loving can come. That includes you ladies. Also... We don't do any lists...

If you need any more info, feel free to contact @kevin_seth or Myself (arthurnyoiks) and we will be glad to help.

We are also looking forward to setting up our own site(soccer paranoia KE) to blog about about soccer, results, transfers, reactions etc. Somebody has to do this 'dirty work' at some point,eh?

Looking forward to seeing our regular as well as new faces.

Of Premier transformations

 The wise people said 'if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it definitely is a duck'. With the Euros, Olympics and pre-season friendlies over and done, the premier is shaping up into something potentially very interesting over the next few weeks. With the new signings, new injuries(Wilshere, Ledley King and the other weaklings), potential returns of stars(Fletcher, Anderson, Cleverly, Diaby, Bent etc), new managers (BBC says 6clubs changed managers in the EPL... Chelsea, Liverpool, Swansea, Aston Villa, Norwich City, West Brom... oh and Tottenham. Thats 7 if you ask me).

The battle for the Top 4 hots up this time... with Liverpool having signed a midfielder(Joe Allen) and a striker(Fabio Borini). If you recall they lacked someone to lead the team the middle in the absence of Gerrard and a striker as they were too dependent on Suarez. I think their fortunes will probably change for the better now though I don't see them winning the EPL.

Tottenham Hotspur look like they strengthened their midfield even more. Looks like they realized having to depend on the injury-prone Huddlestone can prove frustrating. And they also signed Vertonghen for centre back following Ledley King's retirement due to frustrations in his injury-plagued career.

Chelsea... they are clearly phasing out their old guard. I honestly dont see Di Matteo winning it with these youngsters, just yet at least. They are yet to gel, and the old guard(Lamps, Drogba Terry et al) used to deliver anyway. That is where AVB also went wrong.You cannot phase out experience all at once for energy and flair

Arsenal.... After their beloved captain came out and said that the club had no ambition, they went out and signed Giroud (French Top Scorer and League winner), Podolski (FC Cologne's top scorer in a poor season) and Santi Cazorla. In my opinion... they are all average. Take the French Ligue 1 for instance, its not that strong a league is it? Podolski... he may be different, yes, but he couldn't save his former team from sinking. Cazorla... if he really is THAT good, why haven't Barca signed him? See where am going with this? But then again, it is Wenger's tradition to 'build' stars for other teams. I do believe they will flourish, though not this season. Top 3 maximum. I also enjoyed watching Diaby playing during their pre-seasons. He always looks very sure on the ball. Hopefully he can take over from Song, if his injuries dont come back to haunt him again... seeing as Wenger has made him a star for Barca.

Manchester United... Signed Kagawa(great midfield talent this one), Powell(I think he is a striker) and that other random striker guy... Henriquez. Really? Do we really need a striker? Either Fergie is growing too old for the game(which I doubt) OR... a formation change is about to take place. And an attacking one for that matter. But the problem with that is that it could be unfair to some players.
Take 4-3-3 for instance. Scholes definitely starts, eh? Him and Carrick. Then Kagawa, since he has flare. What happens to Fletcher, Anderson and Cleverly and Ashley Young? But I can see why he hasn't signed any other midfielders. The team is obviously full of depth if Sir Alex plays 4-3-3.
Striking... assuming Valencia and Nani are promoted forward to supply for Rooney/Van Persie or whoever... what happens to Bebe, Macheda, Welbeck, Berbatov, Nick Powell? And if Valencia and Nani are not promoted forward, then that leaves them in a very tricky place since they are wingers and not central midfielders.
Lets talk about injuries... They really had them exposed last season. Influential captain Nemanja Vidic is now back. So are Anderson, Cleverly and Fletcher. Imminent returns of Jones, Smalling and the probable rise of a home-grown left back who could eventually be Patrice Evra's long term replacement, going by the name Blackette, are a sign that there could be better things to come.
The Red Devils look stronger, but I dont think City will make it any easy for them.
They could reclaim the title... if Manchester City's stars falter along the way

Champions, Manchester City.  I write about them last because they are champions, and they are definitely NOT least. First of all, they may not have signed any big players just yet BUT... that also comes as a hidden advantage. See, they wont have to wait for their team to gel, they just have to pick up from where they left last season.. and it looks like they are already up to the task. case in point, their strong pre-season games. Tevez is back.. with a vengeance. He scores, he assists, he runs the game. I don't need to remind you of the lethal combo they form... together with Balotelli, Aguero, Yaya, Nasri and Silva. They signed Jack Rodwell from Everton the other day. I dont see him coming above De Jong or Andy Johnson in the pecking order just yet. They are arguably the best with their stars on form.

On the other end of the table, I see Swansea struggling after selling two of their midfield dynamos, Sigurdsson and Joe Allen. I also foresee QPR and one of the new entrants struggling...

The Simple Difference

There have been forums on this here Twitter that have sought to bring people together based on their interest. There are those that love their poetry, they used to be those who played their chess and scrabble and well not to forget those who love their blankets soaked in wine.

The masses however are those that love their football. They have their teams in their twitter bios, they make memes, they curse in caps when their keeper blunders and they tweet with billions of exclamation marks when their favourite strikers score.

We came up with an idea to call up tweeps and play some football. There was banter about fans of the big four teams in the EPL playing against one another. The hype was there but it didn't materialize. All hope has not been lost though. So far we've had three games played. Guys have shown up and it has been fun. This can be improved on to say the least. Tell your friends to tell their friends to turn up.

Well the dreaded and most useless part is that whole talk on the TL of how a tweet up went by talking crap about how people look like, or walk like or even talk like. We're all grown ups. Keep the scrutiny to yourself (if you have any) and be content with what/who you are. The aim to this is to become the simple difference.

That aside, things seem to be looking up. We're into single digits people. 9 days to the Premier League kick off. Prepare your joys, tears, sweat and blood because it will be another interesting season.

AUGUST TWEET UP: The Result

Saturday 4th August...And the long awaited day of the Tweet Up is upon us. What looked like the beginning of a boring day began. Only few people had arrived(five to be exact) by midday and the weather didnt look that friendly. On the pitch at that moment.. @kevin_seth @doogie @shiroh101(who wasnt playing but yes, there are soccer loving mamis), myself and two other guys.

The mamis present that day

12:30 ninjas began arriving, one by one and before we knew it.... GAME ON!!

And the soccer was played... Dimba ikagaragazwa. By halftime... @kevin_seth's side led 5-3. Free scoring bagas....

Ki_Bet... Luis Nani on the Wings

Halftime... Doogie provides energy drinks. Shiroh101 provides soda and everyone is re-energized. Then, enter @sirfender and the game changes. From being one-sided to... The other-sided. If there is anything of the sort. My point is, power shifted.

The control was back in our posession as Sir Fender controlled affairs from midfield going forward, and Artur being able to help out elsewhere on the wings. Kibet was our Luis Nani, with Flair on the wings and his brilliant passes. To be fair though, Kevin Seth's team were also a real threat coming forward... With Kevin, Doogie and @Sleven_kalevra aka Anto running riot at times.

SirFender... asset in any team

There were moments of panic though when the game had to stop because of what threatened to be horrifying injuries. DingoKG looked to have passed the test of metal by chesting a huge stone... Him and another friend of ours, Davie. Tali also felt that since he wasnt getting enough of the ball, he had to kick at something. Poor boy, he took a rock to the shin. All in all, all injuries were minor and manageable.

The remaining crew.. after most had left

Later on, we all headed to Cactus... An eatery joint near Yaya Centre for lunch. All in all, it was a good day, well spent. Sad we couldnt capture the moments on the pitch as we all were involved in play. Many thanks to all who showed up, mentioned, unmentioned... And even those off twitter(Tali, Davie, Mike, DingoKG, Joel and the rest) and the ladies too.

The only downside was the body pains that came afterwards from three straight hours of play. I hope everyone is fine now