So Ole Gunnar Solksjær is going to need another couple of transfer windows in order to improve Manchester United! This despite continuously saying he can see an improvement in the team already. The problem is that nobody else can see this improvement!
The team is currently competing in the Europa League. When he took over they were in the Champion’s League. They sit well outside the top ten in the Premier League which was also not the case when he took over. So where’s the improvement? (more…)
Manchester United have won the Premier League title thirteen times. Chelsea have won it five times and Manchester City have won it twice.
Sandwiched in between City and Chelsea is Arsenal, who have won it three times, but that was back in the days when they were quite good, days which are unlikely to return as long as they, and their manager, continue to stick their heads in the sand in the forlorn belief that he will be able to compete with the new kids on the block at any time soon.
Their riches also do not amount to as much as any of the “big three” which means that they will either always be picking up players unwanted by the others, or scouting very good players for themselves, as they used to do very successfully. (more…)
For a short period of time, a couple of years ago, Brendan Rodgers looked as though he may win the Premier League title with Liverpool. He certainly came closer than they have done for many a year and all the stupid cliches came babbling forth from the experts and the press. My favourite is, “they will never have a better chance of winning it than they did that year“.
That, of course, is complete nonsense as, under Jürgen Klopp, they may very well have their best chance of winning it, although it is yet to come. (more…)
As advertised, tonight sees the meeting of the minds. Arsene Wenger’s classical music team take on Jurgen Klopp’s heavy metal side. It would make for a good episode of University Challenge, although how many of these player’s went to university is debatable not to mention how many of the Arsenal team would know anything about classical music! (Maybe Mesut Ozil does, he looks as though he might be a fan of Ludwig van Beethoven)
So it is probably just as well that this challenge is being played out on the football pitch without the assistance, (interference?), of Jeremy Paxman. Whilst on the subject of sanctimonious, annoying prats, I guess Piers Morgan WILL be there.
During the course of a season there will always be decisive games and these two clubs have been involved in their fair share of them. Not always against each other but, when they have met, even if the prize at stake has only been pride, they have managed to produce some memorable games.
Unlike everybody else, I am not going to list all of the recent meetings with goalscorers and results as, I am sure, the true Liverpool and Arsenal fans could recite that list without any idiot boards provided by myself. (more…)
When I think back to the great Liverpool teams of the past, I think of Ian St. John, Ian Callaghan, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith, Ron Yeats, Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan and John Toshack, Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, Ray Clemence, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen and even Bruce Grobbelaar. As you will notice I have recorded these as I remember them rather than in any chronological order.
When I think back to the recent Liverpool teams, the players that spring to mind are Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and maybe Robbie Fowler. Of all the ones mentioned, Suarez showed absolutely no loyalty to the cause whatsoever. It can be argued that, as a Uruguayan, he would always feel more at home in Spain and he already had connections with the city of Barcelona if not the club, so it was rather ordained that he would end up there.
The point being that over a thirty year period from the late sixties until the late nineties, all the memorable players were around in the sixties and seventies. What has happened since?
No other team in England was as successful as Liverpool. In Europe, Liverpool are still the most successful English team but have failed to qualify for the top European competition in eight of the last ten years since winning it in 2005. (more…)
(Brendan at the station waving goodbye to Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling along with any chance he had of keeping his job)
Brendan has decided that tomorrow is another day. Not an original quote, but one that Margaret Mitchell would have been pleased to hear. On his sacking by Liverpool he should have said that frankly, my dear, he didn’t give a damn, but he probably didn’t so an opportunity went begging.
The only surprising factor in Rodgers’ dismissal is that it took Liverpool so long to commit the act. Many thought he might go after he sent the money received from Barcelona for Luis Suarez to Southampton and asked them to send him some players in return. The ones that chose to join have hardly pulled up any trees. In fact, Ricky Lambert has already moved on, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren have struggled to make an impact, although both have improved recently, and Nathaniel Clyne is the only one who can be considered a regular. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 