WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Fulham beat Aston Villa 3-1 to move into a position to play European football next season. Fulham was a preseason favorite to be relegated. Fulham are currently in seventh place on the Prem table.

• Chelsea beat the crap out of Arsenal 4-1. At this point in the season it does not matter because Arsenal has secured a spot in the Champions League and Chelsea has nothing better to play for at this point.

• Manchester United played two games this round. The first was a 2-0 win against Manchester City in the Manchester Derby. Then Man U beat Wigan 2-1 to finally make up the game they were behind. Manchester United is now 6 points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table. One more point in the last 2 games and Manchester United secures the Prem title.

The newest Major League Soccer franchise from Philadelphia has created their identity. The Philadelphia Union will join MLS during the 2010 season. The team colors will be blue and gold (see logo to the right).

The team identity is taken from the 13 original American colonies that met in the 1770s in Philadelphia to break British rule and form a constitution, with the color scheme from the American Revolutionary Army.

Early speculation suggest that the Philadelphia Union will be rivals with nearby DC United and New York Red Bulls.

American keepers have been successful at the highest levels of English football. Everton’s Tim Howard (who started his English footballing career at Manchester United) might be one of the best.

Howard has been instrumental in leading Everton to the 2009 FA Cup Final against Chelsea. The final will be played May 30th at Wembley, and is the oldest football competition in the world.

Tim Howard and the Everton defense has also been given credit for an Everton record 16 cleansheets this season. After Everton’s 0-0 tie this weekend, Everton has gained a place in next season’s UEFA Cup. Any season that Everton earns a place in a European competition is a good season.

Howard, who is the number one keeper for the United States national team, is expected to lead the US to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Okay, so I missed Round 34 of the Prem. I have been…busy…you know. So on to Round 35.
  

• Even though Aston Villa beat Hull 1-0, Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Portsmouth have put them 10 points ahead in the race for the critical forth spot on the Prem table. There are only 3 games left so Villa has no chance to catch Arsenal.

• Manchester United beat Middlesbrough 2-0 to go three points clear at the top with a game in hand.

• Chelsea’s 3-1 win against Fulham has helped keep the pressure on Liverpool for second. Chelsea are six points behind Manchester United.

• Liverpool will fight to the end to catch Manchester United. A 3-0 win against Newcastle has kept them within 3 points.

I’m in the midst of watching the second leg of the Manchester United versus Arsenal UEFA Champions League matchup wondering if the gunners can score five in the next 20 minutes to win on aggregate. What I mean is, Arsenal is out. Again.

This game should teach everyone how lethal mistakes are with Christiano Ronaldo breathing down your neck. Time to rethink your player development strategy, Arsene.

Ooh, a PK.

Is there any other sport in which the commentator is a better player than every player on the field? John Harkes’ critques, though accurate, are annoying when they make you realize how low the quality of play is you’re watching. The only remarkable thing about this game is the fastest red card ever issued in MLS. The rest was a string of mistakes from two sorry sides.

WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Aston Villa has all but lost the chance to catch Arsenal for the forth spot with a 1-1 draw against West Ham. Villa is eight points behind with five games to go.

• Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Everton all but killed their chance to catch Manchester United at the top. Chelsea are six points behind Man U which also has a game in hand.

• Manchester United continues to drive for the title with a 2-0 win against Portsmouth.

• The big game this weekend was Liverpool against Arsenal. I was not very impressed with Russian Arshavin and was not sure why Arsenal pushed so hard to acquire him. Then he went out and scored four goals against Liverpool. And that is why I am a football blogger and not a scout or coach. The game ended in a 4-4 tie which opened Manchester United’s lead over Liverpool to 3 points plus a game in hand.

As the United States works on bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, an individual with much political sway has joined the fight. President Barack Obama has sent a letter to FIFA President Sepp Blatter indicating his support for America to host the event.

Early speculation indicates that the United States are the early favorites for the 2022 World Cup, with the 2018 event to return to Europe (England, Spain and Portugal are leading the hosting).

Disclaimer: This is not a political blog and we do not want to hear any arguments that involve political ideologies (this means you Erick). It is just significant that a US president is supporting a bid for the World Cup.

Jozy Altidore (in this dated photo, I am too lazy to upload a new one) has undergone surgery to remove an ingrown toenail. There has not been an official announcement on the amount of time he will miss but the assumption is roughly four weeks.

The US National team does not play again till June 6th, giving Altidore plenty of time to recover. In the last round of World Cup qualifying Altidore scored four goals.

Jozy still has not started for his club team Xerez CD, which are leading the Spanish second division and are looking to be promoted to the top flight.

WHAT THE? is my weekly Premiership review column where I write about the crap I found interesting in the latest round of Prem games. This is about me, not you, so I don’t want to hear you bloody whine about it.

• Arsenal continued their march toward Champions League football with a win against Wigan 4-1. Arsenal now has an eight point lead the fifth position.

• Aston Villa are trying to catch Arsenal for that forth spot tied Everton 3-3 on Sunday. Villa has now gone 10 games without a win after having a sizable points lead over Arsenal for the fourth spot.

• Tottenham has climbed out of the bottom half of the table with another win, 1-0 over West Ham.

• Bolton scored three goals in eight minutes but it was not enough to overcome a four goal deficit to Chelsea. The game ended 4-3 in Chelsea’s favor. Chelsea is in third place a four points behind the league leaders.

• American Clint Dempsey scored twice to lead Fulham to a 3-1 win over Manchester City. Fulham, who was a preseason relegation favorite, is now sitting in eighth place with six games left in the season.

• Liverpool pounded Blackburn 4-0 in the race to catch Manchester United. Liverpool is only one point behind United.

• Manchester United needed a late goal to beat Sunderland and hold onto a slim lead in the Prem. United also has one game in hand.