Archive for the ‘Premier League’ Category

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Now that all the transfer hullabaloo is over and Premier League clubs have broken the spending record for a January window again, Sky Sports News can finally return to what only itself considers to be normality, (or normalcy for our American readers).

With slightly less news now being available avid viewers will get the chance to hear reporters repeatedly reporting reports which have already been reported repeatedly or repeatedly reported.

This means that massive headline news, such as “Yeovil Town tea lady trips over pair of boots carelessly left lying around after Tuesday’s training session!” will now be aired every ten minutes instead of every fifteen. That’s now 144 times per day rather than 96! You lucky people, you! (more…)

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Having sat through the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, we couldn’t help reminiscing about the innumerable times we have suggested that Antonio Valencia, an ageing right winger, cannot play right-back because he can’t defend.

We have, also on many occasions, thought exactly the same about Ashley Young, also an ageing right winger, who is now playing at left-back. He too cannot defend.

Chris Smalling is a donkey of a defender who only knows one way of playing. He kicks out in the general direction of the ball and, occasionally, successfully connects. He is constantly caught out of position and frequently gives possession away too easily. (more…)

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That’s it! The January sales are over for another year! Clubs have ‘invested’ a few million again and will discover, over the remainder of the season, whether it has been money well spent or not.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal’s new party-loving signing

Arsenal would seem to have slightly improved their lot having signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

The two ex-team mates will now renew acquaintances with each other at The Emirates.

Hopefully the Gabonese international will still be happy with his move when he finds out that Arsenal aren’t really in the Champion’s League, are out of the FA Cup and won’t finish in the top four of the Premier League this season. Whoever tells him may need to leave the room quite quickly shortly afterwards! (more…)

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Manchester City have signed Aymeric Laporte. Manchester’s poor relations, (according to their manager, Pep Guardiola), who can’t afford to spend a lot of money on players have now spent a club record £57 million on buying the Frenchman.

They have a very expensive, if not very good, defence having bought Claudio Bravo, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Benjamin Mendy, John Stones and now Laporte so, hopefully for them, things will improve.

By the way, the poverty-stricken Manchester team also splashed out on a private jet to fly from Madrid to Bilbao, collect their new signing, then fly from Bilbao to Manchester where he stayed in the 5* Radisson overnight before being chauffer-driven to the CFA on Tuesday morning. (more…)

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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…)

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Alexis Sánchez made his expected debut against Yeovil Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday evening.

Martin Keown, ex-Arsenal-destroyer-of-all-things-football, decided that the Chilean did enough to merit being awarded man-of-the-match. Doing enough, in Sánchez’s case, included giving the ball away on at least five separate occasions and firing a free-kick tamely into the arms of the Yeovil keeper.

He did, however, assist in two of the goals and looked, at times, to be different class to everybody else on the pitch.

We have to agree with Keown’s assessment which leaves us wondering where this signing leaves Marcus Rashford. (more…)

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So José Mourinho has signed his new contract. He has put to bed all the rumours, mainly started by himself, of leaving for Paris or anywhere else for the next couple of years at least.

Unless, of course, he finds something to fall out about. If Ed Woodward fails to sign a player he wants, or sells a player he wants. If it rains too much. If certain other managers in the Premier League upset him. If a player or players at United don’t do as he says. If he gets fed up living in a 5* hotel costing more than £800 per night. If room service doesn’t deliver his breakfast quickly enough, etc., etc. (more…)

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Aymeric Laporte – About to join the scrap for places at City

Manchester City are on the verge of completing a deal for Aymeric Laporte. The Frenchman currently plays for Athletic Bilbao and City have circumvented any needless haggling and price manipulation by the Spaniards by just agreeing to pay the release cause, meaning that there is nothing Bilbao can do about the transfer other than sanction it.

The player has yet to he capped by his country but that, in truth, is more a reflection on the strange selection policy sometimes adopted by the French manager, Didier Deschamps.

The question now is; will he play regularly for City? Most people would think that a player costing around £60 million would be nailed on for a place in the first team but, as usual, that is not necessarily the case when it is Pep Guardiola picking the starting eleven. (more…)

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Manchester City are, as we write, twelve points clear at the top of the Premier League. They have just reached the final of the Carabao Cup and are about to play Cardiff away in the FA Cup, a game they should win.

They will face Basel in the knockout stage of the Champion’s League and should expect to progress further in that competition. Is there anything they cannot win? No, there isn’t.

Only an unlucky draw in a cup competition or a bad performance will prevent them winning the four trophies. (more…)

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It’s finally “Welcome to Manchester, Alexis Sánchez!” who attended his first day of training early-ish on Tuesday morning.

He is now officially a Manchester United player and has already had a pop at some Arsenal “legends” whilst also telling everybody where he would he best used at Old Trafford.

So good times are ahead!

Having managed to bring in the finished article in Sánchez, it is to be hoped that he can hit the ground running with United and that José Mourinho will not get him bogged down with too many tactics involving running back and tracking the opposition. That is not his game and would seriously restrict his effectiveness. (more…)