Posts Tagged ‘Arsene Wenger’

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Manchester City 

Judging by his plea for Manchester City fans to turn up in their thousands for the Champion’s League game against Shakhtar Donetsk, Pep Guardiola is taking the competition very seriously. He has also asked that the Etihad crowd stop booing the Champion’s League music, an act which goes back to when City were fined for contravening FFP regulations, and a plea which may very well fall on deaf ears.

The fans thought the punishment was excessive and a clear case of victimisation which, considering that only City and PSG were fined, and that they were only fined once, is probably true. Here’s the full story if you’re interested. (more…)

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Having recently retired as the “undisputed prediction king – failed abysmally“, (for the time being anyway), our thoughts now turn to new, (or at least re-worked old), ways of filling the column inches.

The first subject which springs to mind is the return of the Champion’s League. You know, that tournament which, according to stubborn old man at Arsenal, has lost some of it’s sparkle. This is what he said. (more…)

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At around the same time last year Manchester’s City and United were about to meet each other in the derby, the loss of which was to be followed by a change in fortune for United.

Having started the season, along with City and Chelsea on a 100% winning run they were to go on and draw many games they should have won and finish the season in sixth, whilst the other two, as we all know, finished first and second.

Here we look at the opening few games of the so-called “big six” and compare them, where possible, to results against the same opposition last season. (more…)

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They have played the same amount of games. They have won the same amount of games. They have scored the same amount of goals and they have conceded the same amount of goals. They have both drawn one game and neither have lost a game. Consequently they have the same amount of points thanks to their identical tallies in everything else.

They are, however, only three points ahead of Chelsea and have only played five game so it’s still definitely very early days yet. (more…)

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The first thing to point out is that Paul Pogba’s injury, which may keep him out for a month or even six weeks depending upon your daily rag of choice, is not the end of the world.

Yes, he is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has been in good form recently, even scoring a couple of goals in the opening games, and yes, he will be missed.

He will probably be replaced, however, by Ander Herrera in some games and Marouane Fellaini in others and, occasionally, by both. The way the pair have been playing recently means that the loss of Pogba will not be felt quite as much as it might have been at a different time of the season. (more…)

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Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte and Klopp all have it, Pochettino is not far behind and Wenger never had it.

What are we talking about? Well, there probably isn’t one word for it. We are talking about charisma, je ne sais quoi, magnetism, talent, personality, winning mentality and other attributes we can’t even think of at this moment! If there is ONE word which encompasses all of these then please let us know.

Remember, we are not judging the most successful manager here, or the one with the best results on the pitch. This is just a bit of fun to see which one of them is the most complete. (more…)

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We have always said that the “London” thing is overrated and used as an excuse far too often, usually by the press when they haven’t got the true answer as to why a player, such as Eden Hazard for example, chooses Chelsea over United or City.

The fact is that he didn’t.

At the time Hazard moved to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were competing on all levels and were in the process of rebuilding having just won the Champions League. Manchester City had been favourites to sign him but grew frustrated at the protracted negotiations and ended up walking away. (more…)

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With the draw for the group stages of this years competition due to be made on the 24th August in Monaco, we look at who the British contingent could face and assess their chances of qualifying for the next stage. First up is:

Chelsea

The Blues could face Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund or Porto.

Roma, RB Leipzig, Basel, Feyenoord and Anderlecht are also possibilities. (more…)

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With five of last season’s top six having already dropped points and only Manchester United with a 100% record, who can stop them going on to win their 21st title?

It may still be very early in the new season but Manchester United have already laid down a marker and it is up to the rest to catch them and stay with them.

Whilst it is true to say that they have only beaten an average West Ham United team at home and a just-as-average Swansea team away from home, it isn’t so much that they have won both of these games as the way in which they have won them. (more…)

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London

So, having managed a full season undefeated at White Hart Lane, Tottenham fell at the first hurdle following their temporary move to Wembley.

They actually played reasonably well but, with Harry Kane not joining the goalscoring race until around October, Spurs will struggle for goals unless somebody else steps up to the plate.

The player who stepped up on Sunday was Michy Batshuayi. The problem? He’s a Chelsea player so scoring for Spurs is not part of his job description. (more…)