Archive for the ‘Arsenal’ Category

Manchester United And Manchester City Face A Fight For A Place In The Top Four

Posted: January 3, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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The Premier League is beginning to take shape. The top six are starting to pull away from the rest and all that remains now is to see in which order they finish.

This is all a little better than in previous years when the top four has usually consisted of Manchester United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal, not necessarily in that order.

Other than last season when Leicester City gatecrashed the party there is a familiar look to four of the top six but two new arrivals are threatening the natural order of things. (more…)

At Last! Premier League Football Is Back (Soon)

Posted: November 16, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, International Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Like a chain smoker reaching the airport exit after an eight hour flight, like a shopaholic after a particularly long bank holiday weekend during which all of the shops have been closed, like a fish returning to water after almost too long out of it, these are all experiences which are accompanied, at some stage, with a massive sigh of relief. To return to normal having been out of the comfort zone for so long is a blessing. Just ask the fish! If speech were possible it would surely mop it’s brow, say “phew” and thank it’s lucky stars that it were still around to tell the tale. (more…)

England’s Problems Lie With The Choice Of Managers Not Of Players

Posted: November 11, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, England, Football, International Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Czechoslovakia, Greece, Denmark and Portugal spring to mind as relatively recent winners of the European Championships. None of the four could be considered as serial winners of competitions.

Wales also stayed in the last competition for longer than England and even managed a 3-1 win over Belgium while England couldn’t even scrape a draw with Iceland and exited the tournament in their usual fashion, ie when there was still plenty of it left! (more…)

A Good Weekend Was Had By All The Top Clubs, (Unless You Happen To Be Manchester United Or Tottenham Hotspur)

Posted: October 31, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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A quarter-ish way through the season and things are, unfortunately for some, beginning to take shape.

Draws at home did not help the cause of either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur.

United should have beaten Burnley by three or four goals but their failure in front of goal may yet prove that Zlatan Ibrahimović was not the signing which should have been prioritised during the recent transfer window. (more…)

How Far Into The Future Do Manchester United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham And Liverpool Really Plan?

Posted: October 23, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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Manchester United appointed Jose Mourinho in the full knowledge that he rarely stays at any club for more than two years, whether the reason for departure is his choosing or not. He has since indicated that he would like to stay at Old Trafford for “many years“.

Manchester City did the same with Pep Guardiola. Having spent five years in charge at Barcelona, (one of them with the B team), he developed his current wanderlust and spent a further two years in charge of Bayern Münich. The impression is that, if he is successful at City, then he may be talked into staying longer. (more…)

Manchester United And City Look To Capitalise On London Slip-Ups

Posted: October 22, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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All United have to do on Sunday is go to Stamford Bridge and win. The slightly easier task, on paper anyway, is that of Manchester City who face Southampton at The Etihad. Anything less than three points each for the two Manchester teams will be seen as an opportunity wasted.

Chelsea are certainly not the team they were under Mourinho and are eminently beatable. The problem for United, at present, is that they are also not the team that Chelsea were under Mourinho. Of the two, however, there is no reason why United should not win this one. (more…)

Is The Premier League Really So Open This Season?

Posted: October 18, 2016 in Arsenal, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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(Yet again Ronald Koeman has donned his Claudio Ranieri mask in order to slip under the radar!)

If you believe everything that you read, then yes, the Premier League is very open this season. The fact of the matter is though, that it isn’t really.

What do we mean by “open” anyway? There are twenty teams in the division. For the title race to be wide open, (as in “that result has blown the title race wide open“, a frequently heard phrase), then every one of the twenty needs to be in with a chance of winning it. (more…)

José Mourinho’s Secret Weapons – Ashley Young And Marouane Fellaini As Manchester United Attempt To Confuse Liverpool Into Submission

Posted: October 17, 2016 in Arsenal, European Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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So United’s starting eleven included Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini for the first time in a while. In fact, in Young’s case, it was the first time since last January when he played against? That’s right, Liverpool at Anfield!

The idea was that Young would provide more accurate crosses for the likes of Ibrahimović and Fellaini. In order to do so he would have to improve on his normal performances which, I seem to remember, involved one out of every four crosses being reasonably good whilst the other three went miles out of play! (more…)

The Top Four Won’t Take Shape Until After Christmas And Maybe Not Even Then!

Posted: October 17, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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(In the above photo Ronald Koeman has cleverly disguised himself by wearing a Claudio Ranieri mask in order to deflect attention away from Everton!)

After tonight’s game between Liverpool and Manchester United the top seven will have a familiar look about it, (assuming that your regular top seven doesn’t include Leicester City!)

A draw will see no movement, a Liverpool win will take them to the same points as Arsenal and Manchester City, and a United win will take them above Liverpool, into fourth place, on goal difference. (more…)

The So-Called “Big Four” (And Others) Return To Real Action This Weekend. What Can We Expect From Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal And Chelsea?

Posted: October 11, 2016 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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That’s almost it folks! We’ve nearly survived another international break! In just a few more days the debate will return to whether or not Wayne Rooney should be picked for Manchester United rather than whether or not he should have been picked for England. Either way the debate will return to Wayne Rooney. (more…)

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