FA Cup Deja Vu, UEFA Releases Its 2008 Team of the Year, Sepp Blatter Canoodles with Criminals, and more

My grandmother, lovely woman as she is, loves to watch ‘Waiting to Exhale.’ I’ve spent the last few weeks with her, and she watches it daily. Daily! Of all of the movies I could quote, that’s not one that I ever wanted to know like the back of my hand.

I don’t mind repetition when it comes to certain things, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about hiding that movie, or buying her a few new ones, at least.

If you aren’t keen on seeing things like movies, or in this case, cup ties or certain matchups, repeated, then you may not be looking forward to what the remainder of the fourth round of the FA Cup and the fifth round (see the draw here) have in store for you.

However, once we get past the six fourth-round replays, the fifth round of the could finally allow us to see some of that FA Cup magic really at work. Sheffield United, Derby/Nottingham Forest, Swansea, Watford, and potentially Cardiff all get the chance to knock out Premier League opposition at home.

Here’s hoping Nottingham Forest can knock out Derby, so that we avoid our third Manchester United v. Derby clash in a month. Either way, United have to come ready if they want to keep their quadruple hopes alive.

Even if we aren’t graced with a quick trifecta of tussles between those two, maybe you’ll fancy seeing Liverpool and Everton face off for the third time in a little over a fortnight.

It’s good to see that Steven Gerrard isn’t letting his court case get to him, as he’s still playing at a high level despite all that talk about him facing prison time. If I were him, I wouldn’t be concerned either.

He also may not be concerned about being omitted from the 2008 UEFA Team of the Year, despite having what might have been his best season to date. As you had to expect, the fans voted in a healthy Spanish contingent, including Gerrard’s club teammate Fernando Torres.

What both Gerrard and Torres might be concerned about, however, is Liverpool’s current form, which has seen them become just a little too comfortable with draws.

Potentially as noteworthy as the fact that Liverpool couldn’t put away Everton at home once, much less twice in a week, is a small quote that will immediately throw Robbie Keane’s future into question. ‘I think so’ is akin to ‘maybe,’ which is never, ever reassuring, unless you’re trying to date above your league and maybe does you as good as a yes.

If anyone in the mainstream media, or MSM for the sake of time, does indeed pick up on this, then the ‘Robbie Keane to Tottenham’ rumors will start flying with a vengeance, what with Tottenham still looking for a striker and the transfer window closing in a week.

Tottenham have already signed one striker, but they’re looking for another one, and so is Manchester City, but they may settle for David Villa in the summer.

Of course, a couple of members of the MSM might still be stinging from the Masal Bugduv hoax, which will probably be talked about many January transfer windows from now. Someone will say, “Hey, remember that fake Moldovan soccer player?” to which a retired Arsene Wenger, I mean, some random Arsenal fan will respond, “Yeah, I created him in my Football Manager game and he captained Arsenal to seven successive Champions League titles.”

It seems that Arsenal could use a little Bugduvian inspiration, because whether or not things are that calamitous for the misfiring Gunners (har har har, a trip to the shooting range beckons?), I don’t see Aston Villa bottling it like Tottenham did a few seasons ago and allowing them to sneak into the Champions League.

Unfortunately, Villa are in the same position as Arsenal and Liverpool in regards to the dreaded cup replay. Having to play extra matches and risking injury to key players can derail a roaring title challenge, and so Martin O’Neill can’t be too happy about the forthcoming replay against Doncaster. Do watch the video, just so you can hear Chris Kamara as giddy as can be.

If you’re a fan of Serie A, or of David Beckham, you might have seen that Becks opened his AC Milan account in a Sunday stroll against Bologna. If his stint in L.A. had the masses in Europe questioning his merits as a serious footballer, he’s on his way to earning an extended stay in Milan.

If you’re a fan of Serie A, you’re also probably familiar with this little filly. And if you’re a Serie A star, or an Inzaghi brother, she’s probably familiar with you too.

Instead of closing with tits, we’ll close with a guy who many think is a tit. I always knew there was something a little shady about that guy…

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