Maybe he is not that bad

In early September, OTWT wrote about Manchester United signing of Portuguese forward Bebe and how everyone needed to calm down about trashing the kid.

Bebe made Bébé made his debut for Manchester United as he replaced Park Ji Sung in the 74th minute of a 5–2 away victory over Scunthorpe in the League Cup. On 2 October 2010, he made his EPL debut, replacing Anderson in the 80th minute in their 0–0 draw against Sunderland. His first start came against Wolves in the Fourth Round of the League Cup on 26 October where he scored his first goal in the process, netting United's first of a 3–2 home win.

The Daily Mail praised Bebe performance during his first career start against Wolves on Tuesday night:

""Perhaps the only player in the United dressing room who may have felt a shred of envy when Hernandez followed up his two goals at Stoke with the winner here was the Portuguese starlet Bebe.

"Starting his first game at Old Trafford since his £7.4million summer move from Guimaraes, Bebe crowned a performance of promise with a goal in the 56th minute. By full-time it had all but been forgotten.

"He doesn’t have the same advantage as Hernandez as he doesn’t speak the language,’ added Ferguson. "But he is having his lessons twice a week and he will be fine. I was pleased with him.,'' according to the Daily Mail. 

For his performance, Bebe graded out at an 8 of 10 rating and was named Man of the Match. I know its just Wolves in the Carling Cup, but you have to start somewhere and a performance like that is enough to show everyone the talent that the kids has and why he is a player to watch in the future.

The Vertical's EPL Picks

So Endy went with a shocker and picked Chelski over his beloved Liverpool. Now its my time to give my picks. So here goes.

1. Chelski: The only thing that scares me is that there is really no cover if any thing happens to Drogba.
2. Liverpool: Might have the best starting 11 in the league last year. But a lack of depth killed then and letting Alonso go to Real Madrid means that they are still stuck on 18 titles.
3. Manchester United: Ronnie and Carlos are both gone, so this will be a year of transition for United. Maybe an FA Cup. But the 2010/2011 season you will see another championship side developed.
4. Arsenal: Its going to be close with them and City, but in the end Wenger knows what he is doing and Hughes does not.
5. Manchester City: see above. How about spending more money on a manager.
6. Aston Villa: Love the way this team is being built, through young English players.
7. Spurs: Crouch and Defoe, I think I saw this at Portsmouth.
8. Everton: Moyes might be the manager in premier league.
9. Sunderland: They spend a lot of money over the summer maybe they will show improvement on the field.
10. Fulham: Being in Europe will be a test for Fulham.
11. West Ham: Zola will have the hammers playing some good football, but in the end will not have the quality to get into the top half of the table.
12. Blackburn: Big Sam can always save teams from going down.
13. Wigan
14. Stoke City
15. Wolves
16. Birmingham City
17. Bolton
18. Burnley
19. Hull City
20. Portsmouth

First Manager to get the sack: Paul Hart Portsmouth
Best Signing: Mike Owen, Manchester United. They signed him for nothing and he could score double figures.
Golden Boot: Torres.
War of Words be Sir Alex and Rafa starts: I'm going to say that it has already started.

The proper way to honor a legend

What is the proper way to honor a legend?

Is it to retire his jersey, have a special day for them, or build a statue in their honor. That is what we do in the United State, but in England they do it a different way. Take a look around at the classic stadiums in England and many of them have stands that are named after long time club heroes.

Take West Ham United's Upton Park, two of their stands are named after all-time great players Bobby Moore (above) and Sir Trevor Brookings. Nottingham Forest has a stand named after their iconic manager Brian Clough at the City Ground, and Wolves have a stand named after Wolves legend Bill Wright at Molineux.

I know what people are asking right now, what is the point of this. Last week the Eagles lost long time Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson was the heart and soul of the defense and meant so much to the crazy fan base. I wonder how the Eagles are going to handle honoring a man that was one of the faces of the franchise for so many years.

The Eagles should name one of the stands after the Johnson. Doing this would allow fans from all generation to remember how much Johnson contributed to the Eagles. At West Ham, kids ask their parents to tell stories about Moore and Brookings, just imagine the situation at Lincoln Financial Field when a young child ask his father about how great a coach Jim Johnson was, all because they are sitting in the Jim Johnson Stand. I know the Eagles will do the right thing and honor him in a variety of different ways, but naming a stand after him would allow the fans to keep his memory for a long time.

Say it with me, the Jim Johnson Stand, it has a real nice ring to it.