Posts Tagged ‘Chelsea’

Arsenal & Chelsea Can Only Make It Three Out Of Four

Posted: November 4, 2015 in Champions League, European Football, Football, Opinion
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Poor old Arsene Wenger. Nobody loves him, except the Arsenal fans.

Even the Welsh national team conspired against him. Aaron Ramsey suffered a delayed injury whilst playing for Wales against Andorra. Nobody really noticed until he had played ninety minutes against Watford, then another seventy against Bayern Munich then crack!! the injury he definitely suffered whilst playing for Wales two games previously, suddenly kicked in. Why oh why didn’t that nasty Chris Coleman tell Arsene Wenger all about it?

The fact that Gareth Bale was also injured in the same match for Wales almost threatened another panic attack for Arsene until he realised that Bale doesn’t play for Arsenal.

So to the game against Bayern which Arsenal needed to take something from if they were to, realistically, have a chance of progressing to the knockout stage. All they ended up taking from it was the realisation that they had met Bayern on an off night at the Emirates two weeks previously. (more…)

Jose Mourinho, The Friendless One

Posted: November 1, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Opinion
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Jose Mourinho is a winner, (usually). He is not in the football business to win friends, admirers or even fans. He is in the business to win trophies. In achieving this he may attract some of the aforementioned but, if he doesn’t, he isn’t the type of person to lose any sleep over it.

Having been very successful at every club he has managed, he is now finding out what it is like to be below average. Yes, Chelsea have not only descended from the top of the pile to being average, they have stayed on the elevator for one more downward level to become below average.

What is responsible for this sudden and dramatic downturn? It is not only a collective loss of form, confidence and cohesion, it appears to be a loss of faith and/or trust in the manager. How else can the loss of form of a whole team be explained? (more…)

The Manager’s Turn

Posted: October 26, 2015 in Football, Managers, Opinion
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What next for the Special One?

Jose Mourinho has proved before that he isn’t untouchable at Chelsea. After a while in the job, the brand new suit of armour he always brings with him begins to show signs of rust, before completely crumbling to dust, (or should that be iron filings?)

After short spells at clubs, where he has invariably been successful, he has tended to move on to a different challenge. Having won the Champions League in two different countries his main ambition now is to win a third. He would prefer that to be with Chelsea but, should that not be possible, don’t be surprised to see him at another English club.

He seems to crave longevity now, probably as he gets older the wanderlust isn’t as strong as it once was. Also he has achieved lot of what he set out to achieve, so the idea of actually settling down somewhere for a while must be quite appealing. (more…)

The Truth About The Manchester Derby

Posted: October 23, 2015 in Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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As anybody who has read the mini-bio on the “About the Author” page will know I am from Manchester and have been a supporter of Manchester United for more than 50 years. During my formative years, in the sixties, I was taken to Old Trafford one week then Maine Road the next for many years. In fact, I was chaperoned until I was deemed old enough to go unaccompanied by an adult. At this stage I stopped going to Maine Road because I was actually a United fan and wanted to watch Law, Best and Charlton all the time. It didn’t help that City were in the old second division in those days, so that also influenced my decision somewhat.

Given this upbringing, I like to think that I am entitled to an opinion, borne of experience, on the importance of the derby game nowadays. (more…)

Manchester (United Or City), Versus London (Chelsea Or Arsenal)

Posted: September 19, 2015 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Oliver Charles T Holt has a theory. It isn’t a theory I agree with, but it is a theory.

For those of you who don’t know him, Oliver Holt is a football writer for the Mail on Sunday. He is the son of Eileen Darbyshire who, for fans of Coronation Street, needs no introduction. He is also a Stockport County supporter, which is fair enough, as he is from Stockport.

Now to his theory. I have heard it a couple of times on The Sunday Supplement, Sky Sports’ programme for ageing writers to pretend they know something about football and, what is even worse, to display their lack of knowledge to two, or even three, hundred viewers.

Hosted by Neil Ashton, another writer from the Mail, the “show” is an interesting concept but, unlike it’s counterpart in cricket which is hosted by an ex-professional cricket player and attended by journalists who also played the game professionally, this one is strictly for amateurs, and it shows. (more…)

The Champions League Headaches Continue

Posted: September 16, 2015 in Champions League, European Football, Football, Opinion
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So Chelsea were the only English team to manage a win in the Champions League.

They currently sit 17th in the Premier League. Three of the teams above them, namely Manchester City, (1st), Manchester United, (3rd) and Arsenal, (4th) contrived to lose their opening games.

In fairness Chelsea, on paper anyway, had the easiest task. Even with their dodgy form of late it would still have been a major surprise had they not overcome Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Manchester City are always an unknown quantity in this competition. Regular losers at home, they have beaten teams like Roma away to progress in the past. Their game against Juventus, last year’s beaten finalists, was never going to be easy, but a defeat was still a disappointment even if not greatly surprising. (more…)

Director Of Football Required – Apply To Manchester United

Posted: August 30, 2015 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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Is this a falsely manufactured position with a fancy title or a required one? At the moment Manchester United should be including Pedro and Otamendi in their matchday line-up. The fact that they are not speaks volumes about one of two things, or possibly both.

The problem could be their transfer policy. They seem to be identifying players and, providing there is little or no competition, they are signing them. Hence the squad now includes Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Romero, Darmian and Depay. The latter actually being there due more to his relationship with van Gaal than anything else. They also got these signings over the line very quickly, consequently leaving very little time for other clubs to react.

It was about this time when United fans thought that Ed Woodward had redeemed himself for the calamitous previous transfer windows. The problems, however were only just beginning. (more…)

When Football And Medicine Don’t Mix

Posted: August 12, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Opinion
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When a footballer is genuinely injured he is usually substituted and the game continues with eleven against eleven. When a footballer feigns injury he is usually booked and the game continues with eleven against eleven, (assuming the referee or linesman spots the deception). In between these two extremes is the “ouch, that hurt!” type of injury.

This is a minor injury which is not serious enough to warrant a substitution. It may not even require any attention from the physio but this one is the difficult one to call. If the player is more seriously injured than at first thought, the physio will be in trouble for not immediately attending. If the physio attends and the injury is not serious then the club may suffer as the player will need to leave the pitch until allowed back on by the referee.

All the annoyance and confusion caused by Eden Hazard going down injured against Swansea City towards the end of the game at Stamford Bridge can be summed up in five words. The law is an ass. (more…)

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