Archive for the ‘European Football’ Category

And Then There Were Two. Chelsea Exit With A Fight, Manchester United With A Whimper, Leaving Liverpool And Manchester City To Seek Champion’s League Glory!

Posted: March 16, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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As is often the case when a team comes up against Lionel Messi, he wins. On Wednesday night it was a case of Lionel Messi, (with a little help from Ousmane Dembele who, in turn, received a little help from Lionel Messi), 3 Chelsea 0.

The scoreline was a little harsh on Conte’s team as they played quite well, just as they had at Stamford Bridge in the first leg. The problem is that, at this level, if chances are not taken by one side then they usually are by the other and, when Messi gets chances, he usually gets goals. (more…)

Will An English Team Win The Champion’s League This Season?

Posted: March 9, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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At the time of writing England still has four representatives in the competition so the chances are reasonably good that one of them could win it. To an extent it depends on the draw for the quarter finals, particularly for Manchester City and Liverpool who are already through to that round.

Manchester United still have a potentially tricky second leg tie at home to Sevilla to overcome but should do so without major problems whilst Chelsea have the hardest task in that they need to either beat Barcelona in the Camp Nou or come away with a high scoring draw in order to progress. (more…)

With Only Chelsea And, Possibly, Manchester United Deserving Of Champion’s League Qualification Surely It Is Time To Rename This Competition!

Posted: March 8, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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Why does UEFA have such strange ideas? Is it because FIFA, the world body, also has strange ideas and it feels the need to keep up with them? And how come the two never seem to agree on anything?

FIFA has already stated that VAR will be used in this year’s World Cup, supposedly the biggest tournament on the planet. UEFA have decided that it isn’t at an acceptable standard yet for the Champion’s League. So it’s fine for the world, just not for Europe!

We have mentioned, in a recent article, how FIFA’s “best player in the world” often isn’t considered to be the “best player in Europe”.

The World Cup itself isn’t called the “World Champion’s League” yet it has a similar format to the European club version. (more…)

City, Liverpool And Tottenham All Looking Good. Can Chelsea And United Follow Them?

Posted: February 16, 2018 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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Ilkay GĂĽndoÄźan – Man-of-the-Match and two goals to boot.

After emphatic away wins for Manchester City and Liverpool they are both, barring disasters of seismic proportions, through to the quarter finals of the Champion’s League.

Having beaten Basel 4-0 in Switzerland City fans will be thinking that there will be tougher tests ahead and they would be right in so thinking.

The only question raised by the performance of the Swiss team is how they managed to beat Manchester United and Liverpool in the recent past!

On this form, which has been pretty consistent all season, City need fear nobody and are certainly a match for the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern MĂĽnich. (more…)

Is Football Really Better Now Than It Was Fifty Years Ago?

Posted: January 30, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Our education is now complete. We have, very recently, learned that Sky Sports News is sponsored by The Sun newspaper. We should have been able to guess as much and the only real surprise here is that it came as a surprise at all!

So one peddler of amateurish and exaggerated hyperbole, (Ed – is it possible to exaggerate hyperbole?), sponsors another. A match made in heaven, if ever there was one!

But we digress because this has nothing to do with the subject on which we are about to impart our considered and valued opinions. (more…)

Value For Money, Which Of The Top Six Has The Best Striker This Season?

Posted: January 16, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Now there’s a leading question and one which has already been the subject of many a debate around the local hostelries of England and, probably, elsewhere.

In order to reach an, (almost), satisfactory conclusion we have to look at the cost involved in bringing them to the club against the number of goals scored.

Obviously as four of these players are in the first season with their clubs we will use only goals scored this season as the yardstick.

So, in reverse order, here are the “best” strikers in the Premier League. (more…)

Do The Top Six Have New Year’s Resolutions? You Bet They Do And Here They Are!

Posted: January 2, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Going into 2018 and Arsenal fans are now roughly a quarter of the way through their sentence of having to put up with Stubborn Old Man for two years longer than they had hoped.

His resolutions however, should be music to their ears. He WILL try and win Big Vase despite his reluctance to accept promotion to Big Cup if he does so. He will also try and finish in the top four, (just in case plan A fails), and have a go at winning the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. (more…)

How Do The Top Six Managers React To The Pressures Of The Job?

Posted: December 31, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Managing a top six club in the English Premier League is a job with a lot of pressure accompanying it.

The rewards for the success of the club and, therefore, the manager, are vast. The price of failure is usually the sack for the manager and a severe loss of revenue for the club.

So how do the different managers cope with the pressures of the job? We looked at the top six as usual. and gave each of them a barometer reading from 0-10 whereby 10 means that they couldn’t handle the pressure any better. (more…)

The January Transfer Window Will Not Help JosĂ© Mourinho, Or Any Of The Others, Catch Up With Pep Guardiola

Posted: December 30, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Manchester United need to buy players, that much is evident. The supporters think so, (don’t they always)? José Mourinho thinks so and all we now need is for the Glazers and their little puppet, Ed Woodward, to think so as well.

Buying players however, whether spending the ÂŁ300 million Mourinho believes is required or less, will not enable Manchester United to catch Manchester City this season. What it should do, if the correct signings are made, is consolidate second place and increase the gap between United and the rest.

This season City have been, and still are, by far the best team in the Premier League and, assuming they don’t take their foot off the gas, will win the title with ease and games to spare. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho Is Right, Manchester United Is Not A Big Team And Hasn’t Been For Years.

Posted: December 29, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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In his latest chinwag with the nation’s finest press and broadcasting representatives, José Mourinho managed to express an opinion which hasn’t been met with gasps of surprise or “what’s he going on about now?” type questions.

He claimed, quite categorically, that Manchester United may be a big club but it is not a big team.

Pause for breath while the assorted menagerie which passes itself off as intelligent authors of the truth digest this profound statement.

What can he possibly mean? Well, dear readers, it is the truth and has been for a long while. (more…)

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