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Ah. School has been tiring recently... There have been times that I had to wake up earlier than usual, having lesser sleep, being tired. All that has to stop, really. I need to concentrate more in class. The only positive thing is that I am able to hand in my majority of homework on time, even though under some peer criticism at times, which I don't really give a bullshit about. Just seen a few downsides of handing not handing up your work. Procrastination, as sy calls it, for me, it's basically dragging what's supposed to be done on the day it was given, and handed up on the day it was supposed to be handed up. I do forgive those who hand them up late, but for those that lie around doing shit, stop giving excuses, please. It's your make it or break it year, what's the use screwing up? I am telling you straight, I'm going to go screw around after the 'O's. Just wait and see. Football, and other shit that doesn't have to do studies will dominate me after the 'O's. Even if you haven't been studying, at least do your ... work.

Anyway, it's been like this for a while now. Remedials on Monday, Tuesday and at times on Wednesday or Thursday. Morning lessons on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Yes, morning lessons. CCA on Wednesday and Friday. So basically, you see, I don't have much time neither, but I make sure I spent at least one hour, just ONE, doing my work or revising what has been taught. After heeding sw's advice on revising the day's work, you'd remember more, I tried it, and it works a bit for me. A bit is everything, especially when you're not the best at last minute studying, like me.




Catholic High School Music Awards 2008. CHMA '08. Possibly the biggest concert in our school, and throughout the other Singapore secondary school? Everything's going well, I think. And I really hope its a success. It's on July 19th, I think. Hope there's a good turn-out of contestants for the auditions, and that there is a full-house for the night itself! It's my last CHMA, the last I'm going to get involved in. Hope it's good. =)




Well, played football yesterday after the halfway through canceled Sports Night 2008. If I vividly remember, it has rained every Sports Night for the time I stepped into this school, and now at my last Sports Night, which rained heavily again. This time, not even one race ran. Played under the darkness of night, with a little bit of light at the sides of the classroom, the primary school were having their meet-the-parents session, and we... well, let's say, we just showed them the real side of Catholic High, shall we? St, aka Nani, scored his hat-trick, I scored two, and missed so much more, while another person, either sw or mel scored the other goal. 3-3 it ended, as we couldn't continue due to being chased out. Haha... Fun anyway.


The Merseyside derby's this Sunday. A bloody battle awaits, with revenge in the air for the Evertonians for the apparent injustice they felt, after two penalties were awarded to Liverpool, a high challenge from Dirk Kuyt not punished with a red, and that two last minute penalty calls were turned down. The fight for four spot will really come down to this game, eventually. With that in mind, and that Arsenal await in the last 8 of the Champions League later this week, Rafa, will hopefully, still go with his full-strength line-up. MY line-up: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio; Benayoun, Lucas, Alonso, Babel; Gerrard (C); Torres. I think Rafa will continue with the 4-2-3-1 that has worked so well, until the sending off and thrashing by United last weekend. Yossi might come in for Dirk, but with Lescott at left-back, it would be either the creative touch that pushes Lescott back, or that Dirk will play to track Lescott back, I prefer, Yossi to push Lescott back. Lucas will come in for the suspended Javier. Sami for Martin. =)

Go Reds!

Bye~!

Good refereeing on the part of Steve Bennett. Seriously. Ten minutes into the game. First tackle. First foul. Legs were being pulled back to avoid Paul Scholes getting the wrath of his studs. And what does he get? Javier Mascherano gets a yellow card. What a piece of bullshit. Fernando Torres, first tackled by the United midfield, then brought to the ground by Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand escapes without even a warning, Torres complains why Ferdinand doesn't get anything, Torres gets a yellow card. Mascherano runs over to ask "what's happening?"... And with a little bit of aggression involved with his body language, he gets a second yellow. Two yellows equal a red, as most commentators would say.


Mascherano lost the plot (above)

Thank you referee. You've just handed United the title this season. Bullcrap. Referees demand respect, but players are not getting the right decisions from the referees at all, so why give a poor-performing, useless referee respect? Give me a break.

He lost the plot as much as Mascherano did

Liverpool set out with the formation that gave them 7 wins on the trout. They were pinned, as usual, at Old Trafford. They attacked once or twice, but never controlled the game. It was okay, a game could turn its head after a half-time reshuffle of their ELEVEN men...

Another defeat for Gerrard against United

The incident last week to Ashley Cole made all this all the more inevitable. It was just going to happen. Paul Scholes had a few fouls but not even yellowed once. The quote by Sir Alex Ferguson, that "players are accessed, managers are accessed, but referees are not" is the only thing I can ever agree with anyone associated to Manchester United. Players are criticized by fans, their own manager, and the media all the time. The managers are accessed by their chairmen, and if expectations are not met, they are sacked almost immediately. What about referees? A wrong decision usually gets a few media battering and that's all. Why can't we fine them for a wrong decision that turns the tide of the game totally? The only punishment seen now is that referees are dropped from the weekly roster list for a period of time, before returning shortly after. They should be accessed more, to be honest.

Football is not only being spoiled by divers and cheaters, but the rest of the time, by the men in the thick of it, in the middle of it.

But I just didn't see why Rafa didn't make things a little bit more interesting. Here he was, one nil down, one man down, why not just gamble and go for a all-or-nothing? It's either a bonus point, or just another inevitable lost after the sending off. Martin Skrtel or Fabio Aurelio could have been taken off for, maybe, Peter Crouch? Yossi Benayoun? Or even John Arne Riise... Play a 3-4-2. Control the midfield, and have one extra striker to pump to. Just look at how Spurs boss Juande Ramos does it, he always brings off Ledley King for Darren Bent or another attacking option when he wants to win the game, and brings on Jamie O'Hara once getting the goal and wanting another defender. Benayoun did come on, but for Ryan Babel? Why not Dirk Kuyt? It just mystifies me. What's wrong with having Benayoun and Babel on to trouble the defence? And why wasn't Crouch even used at all? Even when Torres was injured, what a disgrace to put Kuyt up and bring Riise on. Crouch should have come on to try to flick the ball to Torres or give Liverpool more of an aerial threat, but he wasn't even used at all!

Damn...

So I dropped to the lousier Chinese class on Monday, after hearing that the recent bao zhang bao dao composition test was of a lower grade. I got 29, one mark short of staying in the better class. No offense, though. Well, I just don't seem to get it. There are 25 plus of us weaker students, based on the Prelim 1 and this recent test results, in one class. And on the other hand, there are only around 15 plus of stronger students in the other class, who fared better both times. I just wonder, how are those 25 weaker ones, including myself, going to improve with the teacher having to give less attention to each of us? I mean it may not work this way - the attention part, but it's just that both classes should be balanced, and that the recent test should not have been taken into consideration in the first place. One word I can describe this, weird.


Anyway, we had two tests in a day on Monday, first taking the beleaguered History test - that most had to retake both essays today, I only had to retake one - and then taking the Chemistry test, all with percentage in this June's Prelim 2. Yikes! Lol... There's also been quite a bit of homework to be done over this Good Friday long weekend, but there's more time to catch up and take a break.


The mid-week match played today morning between Carling Cup finalist Chelsea and winner Tottenham Hotspur ended in a thrilling 4-4 draw, that could have gone Spurs way at the death had Dimitar Berbatov finished off his effort. Chelsea should have had one goal disallowed, due to Didier Drogba's being offside and interference with play. But overall it was a good match and an excellent advert for English football.


Speaking of that, Super Sunday's this weekend. Liverpool travel 40 miles to Old Trafford to face old-enemy Manchester United, while Chelsea face North London rivals Arsenal. Here's MY line-up for Liverpool:

Jose Reina

Alvaro Arbeloa
Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel
Fabio Aurelio

Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano
Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard (captain), Ryan Babel

Fernando Torres

With Liverpool winning their last 7 games with the above formation, Rafa should be logical to stick with it away to Man Utd. Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel will have to be at the top of their game against Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, whilst Fabio Aurelio or Alvaro Arbeloa will have to deal with the all-conquering top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Javier Mascherano could deal with Rooney too, as the latter prefers to drop deep to act as a playmaker, while Xabi Alonso will have to win the midfield battle against the likes of Paul Scholes or Andersen, or even Michael Carrick. Dirk Kuyt will play a little more defensive and his work rate will be at an all-time high, with him tracking back to help on his flank. Steven Gerrard will patrol the area behind Liverpool's top-scorer Fernando Torres, and will definitely be marked by Owen Hargreaves. Ryan Babel will have to be at his best to beat the likes of Wes Brown or Patrice Evra, while Torres will have to work hard and fully utilize his pace to beat Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

So it's going to be like a Carragher vs Rooney; Ronaldo vs Aurelio; Babel vs Brown; Gerrard vs Hargreaves; Ferdinand vs Torres, sorta game. Hopefully Liverpool will produce their best football after a cagey affair. I'll only be really pissed with the Reds if they do not go out and do their best. Even beaten 1-0, at least they have to try their best and make United work their butts off. Haha...
Chelsea and Arsenal? Please, a draw would be fine.

Bye~!




MacDonalds, KFC and Burger King, what do they have in common? Well for one, they have decent fast food. For two, they constantly host one or two students hogging more than the required number of tables needed for having a fast food meal. That is, using simple maths, up to two persons should only take one table, one seating across the other. However, in this case, two persons take up six persons worth of tables, around three to be exact, just to study. When has these established fast food joints become study areas or libraries? Today, while eating with v and sy at Macs, there were these two female students, from the apparently best Junior College in Singapore, holding three tables. One for their bags, one for their notes, and one for them to gossip. Yes gossip, not study.

And on my right, sy's left, and v's front, there are two office workers hogging two tables, one each, with a laptop sitting right smack in front of their faces. C'mon man... We had to resort to one table, sharing amongst three people! Disgusted. Utterly disgusted.

Today also marks the end of the four-day consecutive remedials we are having. Chinese on the first two days, Maths on Wednesday and Sciences on Thursday, which is today. We had to take a full Physics paper today, that lasted 2 hours, and after that, taking a Chemistry quiz that only had two pages, pretty much in stark contrast to the former test. That only lasted around 30 minutes. See the differing intensities?

I am just laughing after watching the highlights of the PSV-Tottenham and Everton-Fiorentina UEFA Cup matches. Tottenham should have really gone through via the penalties, after their main man, Dimitar Berbatov volleyed home a magnificent aggregate equaliser. With the penalty scores at 4-4 and with Jermaine Jenas the last permitted taker, he was too casual and slotted his kick high but with little power, and the ever-chanting goalkeeper Gomes saved it. Pascal Chimbonda missed his in sudden death, leaving PSV to go through, and me, laughing at Jenas' calmness. Too calm, shall we say? I feel quite good seeing Everton lose out on penalties. Granted they got back from a 2-0 down aggregate to level 2-2 at Goodison Park. But look at it, would you want a team like Everton in the Champions League? You'd probably see them lose out to teams like Schalke, Fenerbache, FC Porto or Marseille. Please, keep them in the UEFA Cup.

P.S. The Champions League quarter final draw is tomorrow night, sy. And Happy 16th Birthday to you, boss!

Lol...

Bye~!

So Liverpool head off to Italy yesterday and will be hoping to secure the last last 8 spot by tomorrow morning. They go into the game at San Siro with a 2-0 lead. Personally I don't rate a 2-0 lead, even though a lead is a lead, but its that Inter will surely be on fire and attacking from the word go. Complacency might set in into the Liverpool side. If Liverpool had gone into it with a 1-0 lead, they won't be as complacent, and that they will still try to get a couple of goals. Only had Liverpool gotten an unlikely 3-0 lead at Anfield would they be comfortable enough to sit back.

Now the strategy of sitting back will work into Inter's hands. The tie will really be decided on who gets the first goal. If Liverpool get that away goal first, and early, it just kills the tie with Inter needing 4 to quality, while if Inter gets it first, morale might deep for the Reds and Inter might be spurred on enough to get the second. Once Inter gets the second, it'll just go downhill for the Reds, and it'll be a test of their character from then on. So it's vital Liverpool get the first goal.





England's problems of not coming close or actually winning a major continental or global football competition the past decade, and more recently the failure to even qualify for one, is actually down to one thing. There has been very little English footballers plying their trade outside of England itself.

Look at the past few years. Who has actually dared to enter the other top European leagues? One that would pop into Real Madrid fans would be former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman. He was England's left winger at his prime, and moved to Real on a free transfer. Another Englishman who ventured overseas is striker Michael Owen, also from Liverpool to Real. His first and only season with Real saw him score around 16 odd goals, with most as substitutes appearance, as he had to fight it out with the likes of Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes and Ronaldo for a first team place. Nonetheless, he could be considered a success there as well.

Another player that actually started from overseas is English midfielder Owen Hargreaves. He started as a Bayern Munich trainee and has gone on to win several German Bundesliga titles and a Champions League winners medal during his time at the German outfit. He moved to Manchester United during the last summer transfer window. An Englishman who failed overseas is defender Jonathan Woodgate. Signed by, as usual, Real Madrid, he didn't make his debut till 12 months later after being sidelined by injury. During his debut, he scored an own goal and got sent off. Soon after, he moved back to England with Middlesbrough. He is now with Tottenham Hotspur.

Now let's look at the other major countries. Firstly, France. They have the most number of players playing outside of the French Ligue One. Thierry Henry played in England and is now plying his trade in Spain. Former regular goalkeeper Fabien Barthez played for English side Manchester United. Lilian Thuram had spells overseas in Italy and Spain. Patrick Vieira played in England and more recently Italy. Claude Makelele had successful spells with Spanish giants Real Madrid and English giants Chelsea. David Trezeguet is playing for Italian side Juventus, while Nicolas Anelka has played in so many foreign countries, one that also includes Turkey.

Secondly, Netherlands. Ruud van Nistelrooy plys his trade for Real Madrid, after doing so in the past for Manchester United. Wesley Sneijder also plays for Real Madrid. Arjen Robben is another example, after joining from Chelsea. Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie plays in England for respective clubs Liverpool and Arsenal. Ryan Babel also plays for Liverpool. Clarence Seedorf plays for Italian giants AC Milan.

Thirdly, Brazil. Almost their whole team plays outside of the country. Dida, Kaka, Ronaldo, Adriano and Maicon are contracted to Italian teams. Lucio and Ze Roberto plays for German giants Bayern Munich. Robinho and Juninho plays for their respective Spanish and French clubs. Fourthly, Argentina. Similarly, almost every international plays in a foreign league.

Granted, the countries mentioned above doesn't have a local league that has the standard matching of those of the English Premiership, Italian Serie A or Spanish La Liga. Granted, the English Premiership is one of the best leagues in the world. But the point I'm trying to mention is that for every player that plys their trade in a differing league to one another, they would add that something else and that something special another team-mate might not have in the international front for their country. Thus, the successes of Brazil and Argentina. Although Italy and Spain has a small amount of players playing outside of their own country, it is still a considerable number compared to those of the English players.

So I generally feel that more English players should go overseas to play. Micah Richards might have the chance with Inter Milan or Juventus, find out more about the style the Italians play. The young players like Scott Carson, Joe Hart, Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young should go overseas if the top clubs want them. Only this way, can England really improve. And win the World Cup!!!

Bye~!

Lenny
Joseph
Hua Peng
Sei Yee
Kelvin Kartoyo
Melvin
Seng Yew
Samuel C
Celeste
Mark

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