North London looted itself once more this week, as Arsenal defibrillated their Champions League qualification chances by giving Spurs a right good spanking. The Pod set about making sense of it all: can Rosicky now legitimately be called a professional footballer and is Theo Walcott now regarded as much more than a regional-level 100m sprinter?
Before all that trivial talk, the Pod lands some huge *World Exclusives*. We’ll be telling you which Prem manager decides his starting line-up whilst strolling around an abandoned power station, which Glaswegian coach looks set to land a lead role in The Bodyguard Musical and which Magpies striker moonlights as a cocktail waitress.
After reeling from those big announcements, we take a breather by eyeing up the Carling Cup final – the ETA of Charlie Adam’s penalty is discussed, a clumsy young Reds fan is chortled at and Liverpool are welcomed back in to the Europa League family; a tournament that Stoke limply fell out of last week – cue a vitriolic rant at Tony Pulis’ pathetic squad selection against Valencia. The Pod’s projection of a Stoke City vs Barcelona European Super Cup clash now lies in tatters. Only a glorious bicycle kick from big-boned Benni McCarthy could make up for that, but what are the chances of that happening?
Videos
He’s not our favourite McCarthy in the footballing world, but we won’t be turning our noses up at this wonder goal. The former Porto and Blackburn striker rolled back the years and tummy layers to deliver a tasty bicycle kick for South African outfit Orlando Pirates. All done to a nostalgic vuvuzela soundtrack. Special mention to the Pirates coach, who is donning a pure white blazer: sure it’ll show the dirt but when you look this sharp, it’s worth the gamble.
Reporting unbelievable occurrences in the Argentinean lower-leagues are our bread and butter. We are lost without their contributions and this week they served up a beauty. After the ball flew out of play, hit an overhanging branch and dropped back in to the box, San Lorenzo defender dutifully picked up the ball to speed up the goal kick. What happens next? Let’s just say the groundsman will be adding a pair of garden shears to his weekly shopping list.
You’ll Never Wink Again. There’s been a whole lot of mudslinging in football of late, but just occasionally the pure, unadulterated joy of football shines through. It does just that in this fantastic clip of a young Liverpool fan refusing to let a painful eye poke obstruct his celebration of Liverpool’s silverware glory. It is one in the eye for critics of the occasionally beautiful game.
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