Archive for the ‘European Football’ Category

JosĂ© Mourinho Deserves More Credit Than He Is Getting From Some United “Fans”

Posted: December 7, 2017 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Apart from all of the money which is thrown at him on a regular basis, is José Mourinho really getting the recognition he deserves for his achievements?

Leaving aside all his trophies, both domestic and in Europe, with his previous clubs. Leaving aside his transforming of struggling clubs such as Chelsea and Inter Milan, both of which he turned into title winners and leaving aside his record of being only the fifth manager to have won the title in four different countries, we sometimes wonder what he has to do to please some people. (more…)

Will Manchester United Win The Derby And Start To Catch Manchester City?

Posted: December 5, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, The World Cup
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The Manchester Derby this weekend won’t actually tell us very much with regards to where the title is going to end up unless Manchester City win.

A United win would reduce City’s lead to five points, meaning that City would still need to lose another two games and United continue winning for them to overtake their neighbours.

Obviously, a draw would mean that everything stays the same and only Chelsea, providing they win, would really benefit. (more…)

Can Manchester City Steamroll Their Way To Premier League Success?

Posted: December 4, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Josep Guardiola 0525 by Thomas Rodenbücher (CC BY 2.0)

Manchester City have so far enjoyed a truly dominant season in the Premier League, blowing teams away with their attacking prowess and avoiding a defeat on their impressive record.

Under former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, the Sky Blues finally look to have got going properly, after they started strongly but ultimately faded out in their manager’s maiden campaign in charge during 2016/17.

Guardiola earned immense plaudits and shot to managerial stardom with success with Barcelona, rallying to three consecutive La Liga victories from 2008 to 2011 and also claiming an incredible two Champions League triumphs. (more…)

Can JosĂ© Mourinho Rely On The “Ferguson Effect” After Christmas? + More On The Top Six And Big Sam

Posted: December 4, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Manchester United usually start to make their mark on the Premier League from January onwards. At least, that was always the case when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge.

This season they haven’t done too badly when considering that they have only lost two games and one of those, based on form, should have been won.

Had they managed to beat Huddersfield Town, however, they would still be five points behind Manchester City who have reached this stage of the season unbeaten.

So, in order for the “Fergie effect” to actually have any effect, City need to lose at least three games and the derby next week would be a good start! (more…)

What Have We Learned About The Top Six This Weekend, If Anything?

Posted: December 3, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Yes folks, thanks to Burnley’s defeat at Leicester the “Big Six” are, once again, the “Top Six“, although Spurs are clinging on a little to the coat tails of their North London neighbours Arsenal!

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Stubborn Old Man’s team played very well against Manchester United at The Emirates but failed to come up with the goods in the most important department; goalscoring.

Despite finishing the game with a forward line including Olivier Giroud, Alexandre Lacazette, Danny Welbeck, Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sánchez they could only manage one goal against a defence made up of Antonio Valencia, an ageing winger who can’t defend, Ashley Young, an ageing winger who can’t defend and is being played on the wrong side of the pitch, Chris Smalling, a donkey who should be in the Championship and Marcos Rojo a player in his second game back after months out with injury! (more…)

What Is Manchester United’s Best Defensive Line-Up? And Who Will Sell Who? We Look At The Big Seven Players Rumoured To Be On The Way Out Of Their Clubs

Posted: December 2, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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As regular readers of these chronicles will be aware we are not the biggest fan of Chris Smalling. Louis van Gaal called him Mike because he wasn’t an important enough player for the manager to be aware of his first name.

We have consistently referred to him as “Bambi-on-ice”, “Donkey Smalling” and other such less-than-flattering names.

He has never helped himself off the field by his constant claims of how good he is and how much he has helped the team, particularly when overlooked for the last England squad. The problem was that his claims of being a rock in the heart of the United defence came at a time when he couldn’t actually get in the team! (He is a long way from being the sharpest tool in the shed is our Chris)! (more…)

What Will This Weekend Bring Us? A Brief Look At The Games Involving The Big Six

Posted: December 1, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Thanks to Burnley and their annoying habit of winning, the “top six” have once again become the “big six”. Much as we would love to include Sean Dyche’s team in this category we hope that Burnley fans will understand why this is currently an impossibility.

So to the matches this weekend and in the early game, Antonio Conte welcomes Rafa Benitez to Stamford Bridge. (more…)

Wednesday’s Football And An Update On What’s Happening At Manchester United

Posted: November 30, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Well that was fun! Our educated guesses, (which is what they have become since we retired from the predicting game), weren’t a million miles out. They were a few hundred thousand miles out but hey, who’s measuring?

Having suggested that City would return to their free-scoring ways they free-scored a whole TWO goals and it took them 96 minutes to manage that!

We also thought that Chelsea would take a stroll with Swansea as the almost-innocent bystanders. A 1-0 win for the home team is hardly suggestive of a stroll. (more…)

United Continue To Hang On To City’s Coat Tails While Spurs Appear To Pull Out Of The Race, (And Other Meaningless Trivia)

Posted: November 29, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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A good night was had by the Manchester United fan’s favourite boo-boys. Both Ashley Young, (man-of-the-match), and Jesse Lingard scored excellent goals in the 2-4 win at Watford.

Young grabbed himself a brace which included a controlled shot from just outside the area and a perfectly executed free-kick which gave Hilarious Gomes in the Watford goal no chance whatsoever. In fact, so good was it, that when a second opportunity from an almost identical position came along, Young could not resist attempting to do a “Leigh Griffiths” and score again. As is nearly always the case in these instances though, he actually hit it tamely into the wall. (more…)

2 – Who Have Been The Current Top Sixs’ Best Signings In The Premier League Era? (Part 2)

Posted: November 28, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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This is the second part of the article we began yesterday by asking which player, over the last twenty five years of the Premier League, has been the best/most influential signing for the top six clubs.

We have already covered Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool so today it is the turn of the other three.

Remember, our one stipulation is that the player in question must have been signed by the club and not have come up through the ranks, which rules out obvious candidates like Paul Scholes or Harry Kane, for example. (more…)

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