Posts Tagged ‘Pep Guardiola’

These Three Will Contest The Premier League Not Because Of The Amount Of Money They Have Spent, But Because Of The Players They Have Bought

Posted: August 8, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Transfers
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There are dark horses in most competitions. They are called dark horses because you don’t see them coming. They slip into the lead or one of the first three places almost unnoticed and, occasionally, go on to win the race.

This season will not see a dark horse slipping into the top six, never mind the top three.

The top three are already nailed on and, coincidentally enough, also happen to be the three who have spent the most money. But does this actually mean anything? Is it possible to buy the Premier League title? The short answer is; No, it isn’t, but it IS possible to buy the players who will win you the Premier League title. (more…)

Manchester City And Chelsea Have Identified Weaknesses And Strengthened Them. Manchester United Have Identified Strengths And Strengthened Them, (Slightly)

Posted: July 30, 2017 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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It is still too early to judge the success or otherwise of this transfer window as far as City, United and Chelsea are concerned.

Chelsea fans will argue that they have strengthened in positions where strengthening was required and Manchester City fans will say exactly the same about their club.

In Chelsea’s case, and depending upon who you choose to believe, either Diego Costa had already decided he was going to leave, or Antonio Conte had already decided Diego Costa was going to leave. Either way a striker was a pre-requisite in this window. (more…)

Another Reminder For Ed Woodward And Some Hope For City In Their Pursuit Of Alexis Sánchez

Posted: July 26, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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Ed Woodward, apart from having the same name as a late actor who used to portray, amongst others, a character known as “The Equalizer“, (yes, it was an American series, although the actor was English), has nothing else whatsoever in common with that persona.

A man who spent his waking hours righting wrongs, looking after the poor people who couldn’t afford protection and didn’t trust the police, he was a mixture of Robin Hood and the A-Team and always came out on top. (more…)

1. What Are The Odds That The Top Six Managers Will Still Be At The Same Club By The End Of Next Season? – Part One

Posted: July 18, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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PART ONE – ANTONIO CONTE, MAURICIO POCHETTINO & PEP GUARDIOLA

Probably not as bad as you may think. In fact, of the six, only Antonio Conte is deemed to have the temperament to walk away from a club at the merest hint of disagreement.

Here is what is being said about them individually.

Antonio Conte – Chelsea

As with others on this list, he has a habit of leaving clubs when least expected to do so. The first time was with Bari in Italy. He had just got them promoted to Serie A and had also just signed a new contract when he decided not to continue in the job any longer. (more…)

Dodgy Dani Alves Shows His True Colours And United Prepare To Be Taken To The Cleaners Again!

Posted: July 13, 2017 in European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur, Transfers
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Dani Alves is going to PSG. This, reportedly, after verbally agreeing to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

His reason? He wants to win a title. Surely this is as near as it gets to admitting that he thinks this will be a much easier task in France than it would be in England. Either that or he is being economical with the truth and couldn’t care less about a title as long as he gets paid lots of moolah.

Now we don’t want to be the ones to pour scorn on his reasoning, after all, it may be perfectly true. The facts, however, tend to disprove what he is saying. (more…)

United, City And Chelsea Still Have The Biggest Squads And The Most Money But Are They In Danger Of Being Caught?

Posted: July 13, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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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…)

All’s Fair In Love, War And The Transfer Window

Posted: July 11, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Transfers
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Here we take a look at the transfer dealings of two London clubs, the two from Manchester and the two Merseyside teams.

CHELSEA

Chelsea have signed Antonio RĂĽdiger. He is a centre back and there was, as far as we know, no competition for his signature.

Chelsea have not signed Romelu Lukaku because they had competition from a bigger club. They may not sign Timoue Bakayoko because that same bigger club is now expressing an interest in the player. (more…)

United And City Go For Different Sizes

Posted: July 10, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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It’s all a question of size. Ask Pep Guardiola about the importance of a player’s height and our guess is that the adage, “a good little ‘un will always beat a good big ‘un“, will be his first response, or the Spanish equivalent at least!

Ask the same question of José Mourinho and the answer may very well be reversed. He has usually built his teams around big centre forwards backed up by relatively big midfielders.

If Manchester United were to field a team of their tallest players right now it would include Marouane Fellaini at 6’4″, Paul Pogba at 6’3″, Romelu Lukaku at 6’3″ and Michael Carrick at 6’1”. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho Appointed By Manchester United Because Of Pep Guardiola? Conspiracy Or Not?

Posted: July 6, 2017 in Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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As conspiracy theories go, it’s not up there with 9/11 or the JFK assassination, but it is still worth throwing in the water to see if it floats.

JosĂ© Mourinho left Chelsea “by mutual consent” in December, 2015. In January, 2016 it was announced by Manchester City that Pep Guardiola was to be their new manager. Those two seismic events were pretty close in the happening.

In fairness to City, this is where their connection with the conspiracy theory ends because it is highly unlikely that they even knew, let alone cared, who was to follow Louis van Gaal as Manchester United manager. (more…)

JosĂ© Mourinho & Antonio Conte Appear To Be The Unhappiest Of Managers

Posted: July 5, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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If we look at the top clubs, the happiness of the individual managers is easy to gauge. The teams who are signing players have happy coaches and the ones who are struggling to get deals over the line don’t, yes it’s that simple!

Here’s how it breaks down.

CHELSEA

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The only player through the door so far has been Willy Caballero. Brought in on a free transfer as a number two to Thibault Courtois, he was previously number two, (before becoming number one), to “Butterfingers” Bravo at Manchester City. This signing has not yet seen an increase in the sale of season tickets. (more…)

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