Archive for the ‘European Football’ Category

Other Than The Clubs Is Anything Else “Local” About The Local Derbies This Weekend?

Posted: December 10, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Pep Guardiola, Tottenham Hotspur
Tags: , , ,
4

BG

The first derby of the weekend was at The London Stadium and featured West Ham United against Chelsea.

The West Ham team, with Joe Hart dropped to the bench, featured Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell and Mark Noble. These were the lone English players in the team unless their loser of a manager was to spring a surprise and include a youth player or two, which he didn’t.

(He didn’t even include Javier Hernandez, who has scored more goals against Chelsea than he has against any other club)! (more…)

Time To Take A Look At What The Weekend Will Bring At The Top Of The Premier League

Posted: December 9, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
Tags: , , , , ,
0

free-wallpaper-16

SATURDAY

Tottenham Hotspur728v  Stoke City721

On the face of it, one of the only two games which seem pretty much nailed on to bring a top six team all three points is the one between Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City.

Stoke have shown some very erratic form this season although, in the league at least, so have Spurs!

If Tottenham can find any kind of fluency such as they seem to manage in the Champion’s League then they will win this game with ease. If not, then they will still win but with a bit more of a struggle. (more…)

José 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
Tags: , , ,
0

14916105893763

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
Tags: , , ,
0

man-u-man-city-1

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
Tags: , , ,
0

Josep_Guardiola_0525

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 José 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
Tags: , , , ,
0

Bg

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
Tags: , , ,
0

top6

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!

Arsenal 602

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
Tags: , , , , ,
0

david-luiz2

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
Tags: , , ,
0

307340

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
Tags: , , ,
0

Background

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…)

Older Entries
Newer Entries