Soccer Fan Blog

A wave of Red Tide is sweeping across Asia beginning this Weekend for a space of two Weeks , as EPL fans all over Asia begin to get into a frenzy as they are beginning to get all excited with the golden chance to catch a glimpse of their favourite and popular Soccer players touching down on their shores and playing a game of Friendly Match against their various National Team . The top two clubs in Red – Man United & Liverpool , who finished as Champions & Runners Up in the English Premier League respectively last Season , will be embarking on a trip to Asia that will include our neighbouring Asian countries too .

EPL fans in Malaysia and Indonesia will be able to catch their favourite players in action beginning this coming Saturday onwards , with the Red Devils due to play a Pre – Season Friendly Match against the Malaysian XI Selection Team . After which , two days later , the team will then head to Jakarta to play another Pre – Season Friendly against the Indonesian National Team at the 88,000 capacity Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta .

While fans in Malaysia and Indonesia get to see the Red Devils in action , Liverpool fans will not be left out either . The Premiership Runners Up will first travel to Bangkok on next Wednesday , 22 July 2009 to play a Friendly Match against a Thai National Side before heading to Singapore the very next day , where they will stay in Singapore for a duration of four days , which also includes the Big Match Friendly Clash against the Singapore Lions National Team at the National Stadium on Sunday , 26 July 2009 ( 7pm ) .

Man United trip to Kuala Lumpur this Saturday , also more than made up for the loss and disappointment the die – hard Man United fans had to suffer and overcome after the supposed trip to the country two years ago in 2007 was forced to be called off due to the country being involved as Hosts for the Asian Cup Tournament , where Malaysia , along with three other Asian countries – Indonesia , Thailand and Singapore were co – hosts of Asia’s biggest football Event two years ago .

On the other hand , Liverpool’s trip to Singapore this time round will see some great changes from the side that played against our National side at the National Stadium eight years ago in 2001 .

Several new additions and new faces had been added to the squad since then , including star striker Fernando Torres and ( a new manager too in Spainard Rafa Benitez ) who will surely be one of the many star studded players to look out for when they take to the field at the National Stadium two Sundays later . Michael Owen who were part of the Liverpool side that played against us eight years ago , has now moved in the ‘ opposite ‘ direction to the Red of Manchester instead , making the switch on a free transfer from relegated Newcastle United , where he spent more time sidelined on the bench than playing on the pitch due to his injuries .

Soccer fans who want to catch the two Premiership Teams tour of Asia but are unable to get their hands on the tickets , will surely be concerned whether any of the TV Stations here will be showing the Match LIVE . What we do know now at the present moment is that Man United visit of Indonesia next week will be shown LIVE , but not on any of our TV Channels ( at least not confirmed at the moment ) , but will be shown LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Indonesia’s TV One Channel at 8pm ( Singapore Time ) .

As for Man United upcoming clash with Malaysia this coming Saturday in Kuala Lumpur , Starhub has already confirmed that they will not be showing the Match LIVE , but we are not sure if any of Malaysia’s free to air TV Channels such as RTM 1 or RTM 2 will be showing it LIVE as yet at the moment .

* LATEST : Indonesia’s Trans 7 Channel will be showing the Match LIVE & EXCLUSIVE from Bukit Jalil Stadium at 5.30pm ( Singapore Time ) . *

* Man United play Malaysia XI this Saturday at 5.3opm in KL – Bukit Jalil Stadium . Liverpool will play Thailand in Bangkok on 22 July 2009 at 7.30pm ( Singapore Time ) in Bangkok , while our Lions National soocer team will play host to the UEFA Champions League Winners in 2005 at the National Stadium on 26 July 2009 at 7pm . *

* Man United & Liverpool Trip To Asia At A Glance :

MANCHESTER UNITED :

vs Malaysia ( Saturday , 18 July in KL @ 5.30pm , LIVE On Indonesia’s Trans 7 Channel )

vs Indonesia ( Monday , 20 July in Jakarta @ 8.30pm – LIVE On Indonesia’s TV One Channel )

LIVERPOOL :

vs Thailand ( Wednesday , 22 July 2009 in Bangkok @ 7.30pm )

* vs Singapore ( Sunday , 26 July 2009 – National Stadium @ 7pm ) *

* Singapore Fans of Liverpool FC can start to catch the team in action in their first Pre – Season Friendly Match against St Gallen Tonight at 2am ( Singapore Time ) LIVE & EXCLUSIVE On Starhub Football Channel ( Channel 27 ) . *

* Liverpool will reach Singapore on Thursday , 23 July 2009 – ( just one day after their Friendly Match with Thailand in Bangkok ) where they will stay in Singapore for a duration of four days . *

Great timing by Van Persie. Right after Eduardo managed to clear his name (in a legal sense) over the diving brouhaha, Van Persie is now reported to have said he doesn’t think twice about
diving (or exaggerated simulation) in order to emphasise any moment he gets fouled in the penalty box, all to get a penalty. Properly misquoted but if I were him, wouldn’t have said anything in
response to questions that are clearly crafted to bait footballers. Still, what’s done’s done and Wenger already knew that his side will never ever be given the benefit of the doubt now for
incidents inside the box, or at least for the foreseeable future. Might not be too much of a problem as long as the players make sure to be more direct and not play for penalties.

A couple more hours before the game starts at the Cottage and it was quite a nightmare last season but the players look much better against teams like Fulham this season. Even against Utd and
City (which we lost), they did look the better side for a significant portion of both games and only really looked vulnerable once the cause looked lost. Against City we were still pressing
late in the game although that was also the point when we abandoned all notion of defending. Some of them got to put up their legs during the week so the team should be rather fresh. Fulham
also benefited from a bigger squad this time round or at least Roy Hodgson is clearly prioritising the Premiership which is not surprising. The rotation does not appear to be paying off just
yet since they lost last weekend but touch wood they will wait one more week before playing the way they did last season. Hopefully we get the win to make it two in a row. At this point I have
to say poor old Portsmouth – header cleared off the line – can’t seem to score, can’t even get a point. To make things even worse they even sold the club to a Middle Eastern owner that does not
have the money to spend, who would have thought that.