Get out your fork and knives and get ready to dig into the filet mignon of the EPL this weekend! Two top of the table encounters that will pit Liverpool and Chelsea together at Anfield as well as Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates.

While both Liverpool and Arsenal will be clawing in desperation to pull back some of the flack, it’s actually Chelsea and Man. United that are in the driver’s seats in these juicy fixtures.

Liverpool and Chelsea have had several interesting meetings in the past few years, but in league play Chelsea seems to have the upper hand. Even with the recent form doldrums and the controversy surrounding Mourinho and Shevchenko, Chelsea still has the brass and taps to see off Crouch and Co.

Viewers may also get to see Petr Cech return to the Chelsea goal this weekend. The Chelsea and Czech Republic no. 1 seems to have the all clear after recovering from his horrific collision with Reading winger, Nicky Hunt, earlier in the season.

And though Arsenal has benefited from the return of their own injured star, Thierry Henry (scoring in all three matches since his return), when the Gunners line up against Man. U on Sunday, it will be another veteran that will still this day—Henrik Larsson.

While Arsenal clearly have the most exciting football and potential of the cream of the crop, it is Manchester United who have made the most of the transfer market to secure real time (which is always the deciding factor) results with their acquisition of the Swedish talisman.

Certainly it’s the beginning of the end, and Man. U looks the strongest across all fronts.

Carvings from the dagger

We have heard all of the early reasons why the MLS are idiots with their purchase of David Beckham for a non-guaranteed $250 Million dollars over 5 years, but lets look deep into the master plan of the MLS.

I know I mentioned the word master in this deal, but many have acquainted it with ignorance. You must admit that Americans made up marketing, so there has to be a master plan from the center of the MLS Beast.

I know I enjoy watching Beckham playing out of position and listening to his ego driven quotes as much as the next guy. I will be tuning in, in August when Real Madrid is reborn, and Beckham begins his assault on the U.S. youth.

Damn, I let it out too soon. Yes, I would say that men and women of all ages will tune in initially to see the show, but where is the staying power? When the hype is gone and the regular worker type play of the Americans kicks back in, who will keep tuned in?

Well, I would say, “those where the hype never ends, those who need that rush, even when it is 4 in the morning. It is that group which displays almost insane activity while other members of society stand and shake their heads. Yes folks, I am talking about 14 to 18 year old boys.

What better message to lap onto then, “You can be a $250,000,000 Dollar Smooth Hollywood Playboy/Soccer Player who is married to one of the hottest singers of girl bands gone past!” Hey at 15, I would be sold. Watch players of other sports get a glimmer in their eye and come back or to the Beautiful Game.

In the next 3 years we should see a massive upswing in boys 14 to 18 who are trying to make it in the game, (At all costs).

If the MLS still has a foundation in 3 years, and Beckham has not grabbed everything from L.A. to Toronto FC, we could have a viable product that could compete in Holland, or strive to be French in Stature. That is as much as we can do, if no further changes are made to the current salary cap.

So, if this is MLS’s master plan, then this is mediocre at best. There has to be another factor that some visionary could be betting on.

What is it? Well, you are probably reading this article on it right now. Technology is MLS’s trump card. Before, building a sport’s league would be about building a grass roots base. That is where you draw your strength, and communication comes from there. (Hey Bill, you see the Falcons last night?).

Currently, technology is on pace to replace the water cooler. Information will be in video form coming from teenagers’ hands through phones on steroids, or just Ipods. At the pace of technology, MLS can deliver information at the speed of release, so those adrenaline junky teenagers’ appetites to see Beckham’s Ferrari or Ronaldo’s stamp collection will be on demand. This will cause a huge upswing in interest because of easy access.

Yes, other sports will enjoy the same thing, but this technology goes with who has the hype.

Darth Elements at MLS you might have just created your Death Star, so let’s see if the Empire succeeds with this master plan.

Every pundit across the globe is having and has already had a field day with this one: David Beckham and his star-studded demotion into the MLS and the American Soccer Lore of a Game that could never be.

I am not sure what is more sickening, the multitudinous amount of money Becks looks to soak out of an every-green market (built mainly on a regional, marginal market appeal), or the hype and attention on a “market” that has already seen the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, and Hugo Sanchez grace the fields and TV screens across America, for we have already seen the biggest stars come and go.

For it doesn’t matter what age or year we talk about American Soccer, it always seems to be a question of getting the game to grow anew. And though Becks claims to be sacrificing to make soccer a “hit” in America, it seems like déjà vu with the league now on slippery ground.

In terms of enjoyment, it is hard to believe that Beckham in the twilight of his prime will enjoy playing with the likes of American Athletes. From a young winger, who played with the likes of Eric Cantona, to a makeshift central midfielder in his first few years with Real, and back to a right sided midfielder with rare determination, it will be interesting to see Becks’ “work rate” in the green-and-yellow of the Galaxy.

Of course the sub-standard MLS referees will be protecting him, but still this may be the first time Beckham will receive American football-like clippings from upstart American collegiate players from Ruetgers and William and Mary. While Beckham will certainly be the highest paid of the bunch, he could very well be the player with the lest education. 

But in reality, after having failed to live up to the ‘galatico’ label pinned on him at Real, I guess the next best thing for Beckham is playing for the Galaxy.

He showed that he was a great player for Manchester United, but not a great player.  His time at Real Madrid did not even end up as good as his lesser compatriot, Steve McMannaman, who won a Champions League Title with the likes of a younger Raul and the ever steady Fernando Hierro.

Beckham, as a ‘galatico,’ showed the inability to play at the level of Zidane, Figo, and Roberto Carlos most of the time, as well as the failed experiment (or was it Beckham’s claim?) of making himself a central midfielder (I hear he’s to play in the Center for the Galaxy).

Of course he’d come through at times and provide his trademark free kicks and occasional cross from his Man. United days, but for the hype and tradition of his name, Beckham had a horrible time at it in Madrid.

To bad the MLS doesn’t have a free kick sub rule, where Beckham would be allowed to enter the field only for free kicks and corners, but with whatever right-field marketing schemes always on the minds of American soccer executives, you just never know.