Archive for the ‘Premier League’ Category

transfer-window

It’s approaching that time of the year when supporters of football clubs around Europe start to get excited about who their club may buy in the upcoming transfer window.

This period of excitement is usually followed, when the window actually opens, by many days of disappointment as fans get up each morning to the news that their beloved club has bought……..nobody! Not yet anyway.

The thoughts of the majority of managers these days is to get their transfer business out of the way early in the window so that any new arrivals will have the maximum amount of time possible to get to know their new team mates. (more…)

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The domestic season isn’t over yet for Chelsea or Manchester United. The European season isn’t over yet for Real Madrid and Liverpool. So some fans still have celebrations in waiting and some have disappointment around the corner.

Both of the aforementioned seasons are over for Arsenal and they will hope for better next time out with their new manager who, hopefully for them, will have more of a clue about winning in Europe than Stubborn Old Man appeared to, despite his twenty-odd attempts! (more…)

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An era ended at The Emirates on Sunday. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal played their last ever home game. Next season they will be “somebody else’s” Arsenal and the challenge for the club is to get the appointment of a new manager right at the first time of asking.

Manchester United relied too heavily on the opinion of Sir Alex Ferguson when they appointed David Moyes. (more…)

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Manchester City…..

Whilst most of the attention was on the newly crowned title winners being newly crowned, it should also be remembered that this was an important game for Huddersfield Town. They are still not safe from relegation and are only two points off the drop zone.

The possibilities are that they will go down along with Stoke City and, probably, West Bromwich Albion due to our “teams in stripes” theory. This, of course, means there is still a chance of Southampton being sucked through the trap-door as they are also a stripy team but, on this logic, Swansea will be safe! If only all football was this simple! (more…)

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Manchester United have an excellent record against the other five members of this season’s top six. They also have a pretty atrocious record against the recently promoted teams.

This was in evidence again in their pathetic performance against Brighton at the Amex Stadium. The roles could have been reversed and it would have been easy to believe that the south coast club were fighting for second place whilst United were trying to avoid the drop!

JosĂ© Mourinho, as is often the case this season, spoke with his usual forked tongue in his post-match interview with one of Sky TV’s many “masters of stupid questions”, Geoff Shreeves. (more…)

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We are approaching the time of the season when there isn’t much of it left! The Premier League title is done and dusted as are, apart from one possible turnaround, the three places behind the champions.

There is still a scramble at the bottom end but it looks pretty bleak for the stripy clubs. West Bromwich Albion are virtually gone, with Stoke City and Southampton favourites to join them in the Championship. Just above them, Swansea City remain, probably, the only non-stripy club who may be relegated whilst the list is completed by Huddersfield Town. The rest should be safe. (more…)

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What is the hold-up regarding a new contract for Marouane Fellaini? Either he wants to stay with United or he doesn’t, it’s very simple.

He is not a world class player and so any pay rise he gets on his previous deal is a bonus and he should be grabbing it with both hands.

The fact that the negotiations have become so protracted appears to be because Fellaini now considers himself a better player than he actually is.

Yes, he is a Belgian international, but they are just as good when he is not playing. Yes, he can be an asset in certain games for United but they are, generally, a better team when he is not playing. (more…)

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Arséne Wenger’s farewell to Old Trafford as Arsenal manager would have been an emotional one. Mixed emotions, that is, as he will no longer have to watch his side suffer any more of the humiliations handed out over the years which included a 6-1 and an 8-2 defeat.

He will also not be celebrating winning his first game there as he did in 1998 when Marc Overmars scored the winner or clinching the title there as he did in 2002 when Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal and his team went on to win the double.

There was “Pizzagate” in 2004 when Cesc Fabregas, apparently, threw a pizza in the tunnel after the game. There is no proof he actually threw it at Sir Alex Ferguson but that is precisely who it hit! (more…)

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This weekend sees games for the top six spread across three days. Only Liverpool and Chelsea played their games on Saturday with the former at home to Stoke City in the early game and the latter away to Swansea City in the late game.

A win for Liverpool would guarantee that they finish in the top four and mean another season of Champion’s League football at Anfield.

As it turned out a poor performance in drawing 0-0 with the relegation favourites was ample evidence as to why Roma will still think they have a chance of progresing to the final in Europe! (more…)

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Arsenal, yet again, stand on the brink of exiting a European competition. They need to beat Atlético Madrid in Spain, (or draw by a score of 2-2 or greater), to progress to the final of the Europa League.

For a club which likes to think of itself as one of Europe’s biggest, their record in the European trophy department is absolutely pathetic. In all of Arséne Wenger’s 22 years at the club they have made it to the final of the Champion’s League ONCE, in 2006 when they were beaten by Barcelona.

In 2009 they got to the final of the UEFA Cup but were beaten by Galatasaray. (more…)