Friday EPL Roundup: Chelsea, Newcastle, and West Ham Make Moves

Striker Demba Ba has officially joined Chelsea (Photo: Chelsea FC)

The European, particularly English, transfer window is now in full swing as clubs seek to strengthen their sides for the second half of the season.  The big news is flying in England today as Newcastle striker Demba Ba has officially signed with Chelsea FC.  The Blues offered Newscatle enough in a transfer fee to trigger Ba's automatic release clause.  The fee was rumored to be 7 million pounds.  Ba commented that he is excited to be at Chelsea because "when the team that won the Champions League wants you, it's a fairly easy decision to make."  Ba will replace the recently departed Daniel Sturridge.  Hopefully for the Blues, his knee holds out.  As a side note, since Senegal will not be playing in the African Cup of Nations, Chelsea will retain his services for the next few weeks.  He'll be eligible to play for the Blues during their FA Cup tie this weekend.

Newcastle hurriedly put the transfer fee to good use though.  They have announced the signing of French international fullback Mathieu Debuchy from Lille for a fee rumored to be about 5 million pounds. Debuchy has 12 caps for the French senior side.  Alan Pardew wanted this deal done last summer, but the two sides could not come to agreement.  Debuchy will not be in the squad for Newcastle's FA Cup match this weekend, and the Frenchman is targeting the next EPL match against Norwich for his debut.

West Ham United bolstered their squad today as well with two signings.  First off they signed Joe Cole on a free transfer from Liverpool.  The former Chelsea standout was a major flop at Anfield.  He took a red card in his first EPL match there, and missed a penalty in his next match, a Europa League tie.  He never recovered.  Last season he was loaned to French club Lille, where he scored 9 goals in 42 matches. He did score a goal for Liverpool against West Ham at Upton Park earlier this season , but earned the fans admiration by not celebrating. The Hammers also signed Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh on a loan for the rest of the season.  Chamakh has not started an EPL match for Arsenal in over a year, and has not made a league appearance yet this season.  However, the paperwork did not come through in time, so he will not be available for West Ham this weekend.

In other news, earlier this week West Ham announced that Yossi Benayoun has left the club and returned to Chelsea, ending his loan spell.

League Cup: Young United Squad Hold Off Newcastle

Tom Cleverly gives United a 2-0 lead (mirror.co.uk)

This hasn't been the best week for Manchester United on the injury front, particularly on defense.  Earlier this week captain Nemanja Vidic was ruled out for 8 weeks with a knee injury, and Phil Jones was already ruled out for 8 weeks.  Couple that news with the fact that Chris Smalling is not yet fit and Jonny Evans took a knock over the weekend, and Sir Alex has some worries about his back line.

Nonetheless, the Red Devils rolled out their 2012 Capital One Cup campaign against Newcastle United Wednesday at Old Trafford.  Here were the four men in their back line: Alexander Buttner, Scott Wooton, Marnick Vermijl, and Michael Keane.  Not exactly household names.  This lineup was going up against the Newcastle attack with a combined 2 senior squad appearances.  Was Sir Alex ever worried?  Probably not really.

The good news for United was that they did have depth and experience in their midfield and front line.  Wayne Rooney returned to the XI for the first time since he suffered an nasty gash injury on his leg early in the season.  He was complimented by Javier Hernandez and a midfield featuring the likes of Anderson and English international Tom Cleverly.  It was this duo that would provide United with the fire power that they needed on this night.

The home side controlled the possession for most of the night and their young defense put in a very good shift.  It was Anderson who put United on top in the 44th minute.  Darren Fletcher, who also returned after a long absence, dished the ball to the Brazilian midfielder, who smacked the ball just off the post and in the top corner to give United the 1-0 lead going into the break.

Anderson nearly doubled his tally and the United advantage early on in the second half.  In the 47th minute Danny Welbeck played him into the area, but he put the shot over the bar, allowing Newcastle to breath a little bit.  They finally did get a second goal in the 58th minute when Tom Cleverly took a centering pass from Welbeck and knocked it into the bottom corner.  The all English International connection gave United the 2-1 lead.

After the second goal Newcastle subbed in star striker Papiss Cisse, and he looked to certain to put the young United defense to the test.  It didn't take long for him to show his quality either.  In the 62nd minute he rose and headed in a cross from fellow substitute Shane Ferguson to make it 2-1.  However, United held up to the threat of a comeback, even after Cisse clanked an overhead kick off the wood late on.  The Red Devils held on to win the match, and the League Cup draw set up a tasty matchup with Chelsea in the next round.  Chelsea bounced Wolves 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in the their third round match.

Puddle's 2012-2013 Barclay's Premier League Preview

While I love my home domestic league, Major League Soccer, my first footballing love is England, specifically the Barclay's Premier League.  I'm very excited about the prospects for the upcoming season, and here are my non-expert thoughts and predictions on the new year.

The TOP FOUR: UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Who Are Ya designs has a shirt that's emblazoned with the Barclay's Lion and reads "Fourth is the new first."  In this era of the Premier League, this is really true.  For most clubs, you can fail to win the title, but still be viewed as having a successful campaign if you land in one of the top four spots that qualify for the big money of the UEFA Champions League.  Here's who I bet on seeing there next spring, in no particular order:

We'll start with the defending champs.  Manchester City has not been active at all in the offseason, but they've retained the services of key men and I can't really say as I've seen another team pass them up in the transfer market.  I fully expect City's stingy defense, top 'keeper in Joe Hart, and potent attack to have them at least back in the Champions League spots at the end of the season.

How about their cross-town rivals, Manchester United?  They'll be looking for redemption this season.  Not only did they lose the Premiership title to the "noisy neighbors" at City, but they exited the Champions League after the group stage and finished without a trophy.  They've upgraded some, acquiring Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund.  At the time of this writing, they're still in the mix to land Robin Van Persie as well.  My question about United is at the back though.  Can they stay healthy, and can David De Gea round into form as top EPL 'keeper?  Whether they push for the title or not, I can't see them not being in the top four.

Next up is Chelsea FC.  After winning the Champions League and FA Cup in underdog fashion last year, I look for the Blues to be a lot better in league form.  Yes, they lost Didier Drogba, and that's a huge blow.  Fernando Torres will need to step big time.  Daniel Sturridge will need to regain some of his form as well.  The Blues are still in the running to acquire Hulk from Porto, which I think would be a great pickup.  The midfield is stacked with guys like Lampard, Mata, Ramires, and new arrivals Eden Hazard and Marko Marin, who can play on the wing as well.  The question is, can they hold together at the back after some less than impressive defensive performances in the preseason.  David Luiz will have to show some maturity for sure.  There's no reason why the Blues should not compete for the title and the Champions League spots, and the pressure will be on if they stumble out of the gate.

I really have questions about who will get the other spot.  I believe Arsenal will have issues without Van Persie, but I don't think Andre Villas-Boas is a good fit at Spurs, who also look likely to be losing Modric in the next 48 hours.  I'm going to go with Newcastle United here.  The Magpies were a force to be reckoned with last season, and if they can stay healthy, they have a good shot at making a run for the top of the table.  If Demba Ba can stay healthy and team up with Papiss Cisse, Alan Pardew could have a top attack on his hands.  Cisse was unstoppable toward the end of last year.  Pardew will get the most out of them, and I expect them to land in the Champions League Spots.

Movin On Up--EVERTON
Speaking of managers who get the most out of their sides, don't be surprised to see David Moyes and Everton hanging out in the upper part of the table, maybe even with an outside shot at a top 4 spot.  Losing Tim Cahill is blow, but despite his enormous work rate, had a real tough time figuring prominently at Everton last season.  While the Toffees have not been able to secure the services of Landon Donovan, they did bring Steven Pienaar back from Tottenham, and finally were able to sign former Ranger Steven Naismith, who can play either in the midfield or at forward.  Pair him up with Nikica Jelavic (above) and the Toffees, who were formidable during the second half last season, could see a rise up the table.  I'd put them just outside the top four, with a chance to take one of the domestic cups.

Might Be a long year for--LIVERPOOL
Last year I picked Liverpool to regain their form and finish in the top four.  Well, we saw how that worked out.  King Kenny is gone.  Craig Bellamy is gone.  Dirk Kuyt is gone. Andy Carroll may be gone, but Liverpool seem to have too high of an asking price.  Brendan Rodgers is set to bring a new  philosophy to Anfield, but I'm not sold on it.  He's brought in Italian attacker Fabio Borini and a Swansea holdover in Joe Allen, but the Reds will need more than that.  They've been linked with Clint Dempsey, but apparently have not met either Fulham or maybe Dempsey's price.  In the end, I just don't see them improving much.  If Liverpool supporters want back in the top four, they'll need more patience than Hodgson or King Kenny were given.

And the winners will be:  MANCHESTER CITY
Last year my creed during the season was that I wouldn't bet against United.  This year, I won't be betting against City.  The key here is what I mentioned earlier:  City have not been big spenders, but I don't see anyone as quite catching up to them.  Both Chelsea and United have improved significantly (especially with United on the verge of signing Van Persie) but I think both of those squads have questions at the back, where City does not.  I look for the Citizens to repeat their Barclay's Premier League winning campaign.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek X2--Papiss Cisse Wonder Strike vs. Chelsea

I really couldn't decide between this strike and Montero's so I'll post them both. I may be a Chelsea fan, but there's no denying the quality of Newcastle, Papiss Cisse, or this goal. AMAZING.

EPL: Liverpool vs. Newcastle

Both of these sides have been bothered by some different issues coming into the New Year's weekend fixtures. Newcastle has seen their once bright start to the season fade away due to injuries and a tough run of games on the schedule. Liverpool has had a tough run of results at Anfield, with match after match ending in a draw. They were looking for all three against Newcastle.

Honestly, if you were to take the way Newcastle played on their own merits, they wouldn't really have had a shot in this one. All the hype coming into the match was about how Liverpool vs. Newcastle always produces goals. Liverpool ended up producing all the goals.

They even managed to score on their own net, which meant that the best Newcastle offense was provided by Liverpool. In the 25th minute, Newcastle sent a ball into the box that ended up deflecting off of Daniel Agger and into the net to make it 0-1 to the Toon.

However, the Reds wouldn't struggle like that again in this one. It took theme less than 5 minutes to equalize. In the 29th minute, Craig Bellamy, starting for the suspended Luis Suarez, belted a ball past Krul into the Newcastle goal to tie it up at 1-1. That would be the half time score.

Liverpool continued to control proceedings in the second half, and Newcastle really didn't have much for them. In the 68th minute Bellamy again proved to be a thorn in Newcastle's side as he knocked in a gorgeous free kick to make it 2-1. Finally in the 78th minute, Steven Gerrard, who had checked in as a sub, finished the game off with a nifty tight angle goal to the Newcastle far post which made the full time score 3-1.

All in all a great result for the Reds, who will be looking to guys like Bellamy and Gerrard with the upcoming probable suspension of Luis Suarez. Combine that with so many other teams dropping points this weekend, and might end up being a big day as they try to push for at least a Champions League spot.

EPL: Newcastle vs. West Brom

This was a match that looked almost Italian like in nature, with the home squad dominating stretches and the road side doing work on the counter. West Brom did quite a bit of damage on the counter to Newcastle.

A win over the Baggies could have put Newcastle into the top 5 going into Christmas. This was despite the fact that they were winless in their last 5, which I'm sure Alan Pardew still blames on Chelsea.

The match started somewhat tentatively, with neither side really being all that adventurous in creating chances. Still, Newcastle looked the more dangerous side and started to get their feet under them.

Even though West Brom was clearly on the back foot, they drew first blood in this one. In the 20th minute, Chris Brunt triggered a Baggies' counter with a long but deadly accurate through ball that freed up Peter Odemwingie. The striker then scooted around a defender and slotted it home to make it 0-1 to West Brom.

However Newcastle was not deterred and responded pretty well. After a nervous couple of minutes, they got back on the ball and resumed the attack. This finally paid off for them in the 34th minute, off the foot of Demba Ba. Ba took a free kick from just outside the penalty arc and slammed it in to the corner of the net to equalize 1-1.

You might have been forgiven at that point if you thought the half was out of goals, but you would have been wrong. Newcastle has had some issues defending set pieces this season, and it bit them in the 44th minute. Brunt sent in a gorgeous free kick that found it's way from the head of Gareth McAuley into the back of the net to make it 1-2 Baggies at the half.

Newcastle opened the 2nd half with a flurry of pressure, but couldn't find an equalizer. This led to a golden chance for West Brom to ice the match. In the 53rd minute Shane Long roared up the pitch on the counter, beat the 'keeper, but put his open net shot off the bottom of the crossbar. It really was unbelievable.

It looked like that miss would come back to haunt West Brom as well. Demba Ba was by far the most dangerous Newcastle player, and in fact he's scored over half of the Premier League goals for them so far. In the 81st minute he let a shot loose from just inside the area which zoomed past the West Brom 'keeper and equalized the match at 2-2.

However in the end West Brom were not to be denied the three points. Just 4 minutes after the Ba equalizer, they came up with a Glorious winner. Chris Brunt sent a cross in from the right to Peter Odemwingie, Odemwingie headed the ball back to an onrushing Paul Scharner, and the midfielder finished off the goal to make it 2-3 at full time.

All I can say for the Newcastle supporters is: ouch. However it was a tremendous match and both teams worked their guts out.

EPL: Newcastle vs. Chelsea

To put it mildly, there was some, shall we say controversy in this match. Newcastle has been off to an amazing start this season, even taking a point off of Manchester United at Old Trafford last week. On the other hand, the Blues have been struggling under new head man Andre Villas Boas. Their Champions League hopes took a huge hit with a loss earlier in the week, and traveling to St. James Park stood to be a tall order in the league as well.

The big controversy came pretty much right away. In the 4th minute, David Luiz brought down Newcastle's Demba Ba just outside the 18. It was clearly a denial of a goal scoring opportunity, and should have been a red card. Yes, as a Chelsea supporter, I'll admit that it should have been red. However, the ref only gave Luiz a yellow, and The Blues kept all eleven men on the field.

More controversy came about in the 13th minute, this time at the other end of the pitch. Cabaye brought down Daniel Sturridge in the box, and Chelsea were awarded a PK. Lampard struck the spot kick, only to have it saved by Tim Krul. Replays showed that Krul came off his line by a good yard to make the save, but it was admittedly a poor penalty from Lamps.

Krul continued to perform miracles in net for Newcastle, especially when it came to Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge tested the 'keeper all day long, but Krul saved shot after shot. Finally in the 38th minute, his luck ran out as Didier Drogba headed in a gorgeous cross from Juan Mata to make it 0-1 to Chelsea at the break.

Newcastle piled the pressure on the Chelsea goal in the second half in search of the equalizer. Petr Cech was forched into saves from shots by both of the Ameobi brothers, and Demba Ba hit the crossbar on 55 minutes. Newcastle nearly leveled in the 74th minute, but Captain John Terry came to the rescue and cleared Sammy Ameobi's shot off the goal line at the last second.

Chelsea eventually put the game away rather late. Solomon Kalou took a pass from Fernando Torres in the 89th minute and slotted it past Krul to make it 0-2. Then, 2 minutes into stoppage time, Sturridge finally managed to beat Krul as he smashed in the last goal of the match to make the full time result 0-3.

Newcastle certainly has a right to feel hard done by. Luiz really should have been sent off, and Chelsea would have virtually had to play the whole match down a man. I don't know what Luiz's problem is, he's looked horrid lately. He's been reminding me of a Brazilian version of Tim Ream. He is going to cost the Blues points if he doesn't get his head in the game. However, sometimes the football gods smile on you, and sometimes they don't. Newcastle's PK against United last week that got them the point at Old Trafford was pure BS. So, some things go your way, some don't. Perhaps the worst thing for Newcastle is that they lost Ryan Taylor to injury for the rest of the season.

Nolan Looks to Leave Newcastle

Things have appeared to grow very uneasy these days at Newcastle. Going into the summer window they looked to lock up their core of talent and then hopefully add to it to further their Premier League Position next season.

Well all that seems to have taken a pretty big hit the last couple of days. First off, Kevin Nolan has rejected a deal to stay at St. James Park and looks to be headed to West Ham, where he would be reunited with Big Sam Allardyce.

That news is bad enough, but some players have taken exception to the sale. Among them is Joey Barton, who tweeted his displeasure. Barton has also been told he will not be offered a new deal. Jose Enrique has yet to respond to the club's latest offer as well. It seems that Newcastle may be in jeopardy of losing all three.

I doubt the Toon Army is very pleased.

EPL: Liverpool vs. Newcastle United

This entry is probably gonna be pretty short as this match kind of sucked, despite three goals.

Let's put it this way, Liverpool wanted the match, Newcastle is quite obviously already on summer vacation, their goal of remaining in the Premier League complete. That attitude really showed for both sides.

Liverpool started the scoring in the 10th minute as Maxi Rodriguez slammed home a strike that deflected off the side of Newcastle's Simpson. A nice little bit of luck for the Reds, and they took a 1-0 lead.

Newcastle tried to respond, and got quite a few chances. In fact, they really held onto the ball more than Liverpool did the rest of the first half, but their was no inspiration or motivation in their game at all. They had corner after corner and set piece after set piece but it all came to nothing, 1-0 to Liverpool at the half.

The second half was scarcely more entertaining. In the 58th minute, Luis Suarez was taken down in the area and a PK was awarded. Dirk Kuyt easily scored the spot kick and it was 2-0. In the 65th minute Suarez himself got on the score sheet after a nice little 1-2 with Dirk Kuyt. The Uruguayan eased the ball into the net through a Newcastle defense that was obviously already out playing golf and sipping martinis.

That's about all their is to say. Great job by Liverpool, but Newcastle didn't exactly put up a fight. Still, the Reds move into 5th place ahead of Spurs on goal difference as they look to cement a place in next year's Europa league.