Good morning.
I have precious little to look at across the many football websites this morning. One of the top stories on BBC Sport is of Titus Bramble suggesting he may or may not leave Sunderland. Reading that news fails to titillate me. Could there be a worse transfer story? Read more
Good morning.
It is quite staggering just how much change has happened in the Premier League over the past few days. Tony Pulis has "mutually" walked away from Stoke City, which actually means he was sacked without ceremony by Peter Coates. Arsenal have been linked with any striker that has a Read more
GOOD MORNING!
Do you wanna know why I typed that in caps lock? Because Tony Pulis has "mutually walked away from Stoke City after chairman Peter Coates sacked him for a sh*t run of results." There's nothing "mutual" about Pulis' departure, he's been sacked. Why? Because Stoke City have stagnated Read more
Good morning.
Real Madrid have officially announced what we've all been expecting since about November: Jose Mourinho is leaving Real Madrid after three years in charge, in which time he won the league and Copa Del Rey. Mourinho will take charge for the final time against Osasuna on June 1st, Read more
The contrasting situations between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the end of 90 minutes on Sunday, spoke volumes for the importance of Champions League football.
On the one hand, Arsenal celebrated as if they had lifted a trophy, for which they have been criticised for. "Fourth is not a trophy, this just Read more
There has been a lot of speculation concerning the future of highly sought after midfielder, Paulinho. The Brazilian international has been involved in rumors concerning some of the top clubs in Europe, including Arsenal and Inter Milan. However, it was Chelsea who seemed to have honed in on the 24-year old with a possible nine million pound bid. It has been common knowledge that Chelsea manager, Roberto Di Matteo, has been tracking the young defensive midfielder for some time, hoping to add depth and competition to the Chelsea midfield, which includes John Obi Mikel and fellow Brazilian, Ramires. Read more
First of all, congratulations to local (to me) Paralympian, Oliver Hynd, for winning a gold medal in the men’s 200m individual medley. It’s always fantastic to see local athletes do well and following in the footsteps of his brother Sam, who won gold in Beijing four years ago, marks a fantastic achievement for the Hynd family, who must be immensely proud of their boys.
As much as I would like to talk about Oliver and Sam throughout this blog, I can’t, so on with what precious little news we have this morning, and Santos claim a late bid from Manchester United for star player, Neymar, never happened. It’s well reported that Manchester United tried very hard to bring Lucas Moura to Old Trafford, though were thwarted in their attempts by Parisian money bags, PSG. Rumours have it that after failing to bring Lucas to the club and with reports of Portuguese winger, Nani, on the verge of moving to Zenit St. Petersburg growing ever stronger, (still could happen, the Russian transfer window closes tonight) United moved for Neymar to fill the void on transfer deadline day. Read more
‘Robin Returns’. Sounds like a bad Batman spin-off.
Good morning!
I’m currently looking after a puppy for some friends who have gone away on holiday. He’s a lovely Dog, a Shetland Sheepdog, but by sweet Moses are they high maintenance! In conjunction with me owning a Jack Russell, it’s been a chaotic week; waking up at half five most mornings is not my idea of heaven.
Right, to the news this morning, as I’m on borrowed time despite being on a day off, having been cleaning up Dog wee and feeding said Dogs most of this morning.
Van Persie returns to Arsenal training
As expected, Robin Van Persie returned to Arsenal for pre-season training yesterday, sparking further rumours of his future. The ESPN website this morning carry quotes from an Arsenal spokesman, who says that Van Persie, ‘returned to training on Monday as expected and made it clear he wants to sit down and resolve the matter of his future, either way, as soon as possible. No date has yet been agreed for that meeting.’ Read more
Greece. Better than Russia? Give me a moment to laugh…
Good morning!
I trust the weekend was good for you? First of all, a massive congratulations to the sister of a reader of this blog, who entered wedlock on Saturday. I went to their wedding reception and it was a very nice evening, but in the name of football, do you want to know what I spent twenty minutes doing? I was watching Russia v Greece on my iPhone! I am that dedicated to football, I know no social boundaries when football comes into the equation. I would have watched more, but the damn wi-fi disappeared after a bit. I have a feeling the hotel were on to me…
A yellow card for reacting negatively to racism? Well done, UEFA…
Good morning!
I hate having to pay homage to Michel Platini first thing in a morning. A good player though Platini was, he isn’t the best sandwich in the lunch box. If I’m honest, I can’t stand paying homage to FIFA or UEFA as an organisation, let alone one, lone individual. Michel Platini would be the same man who said that women playing football should wear shorter shorts. I think somebody has to remind Platini of his position of power, further reminding him that he’s not a fourteen year-old school boy.
Platini’s latest controversial comment goes as such; ‘It’s a yellow card. It’s not a player – Mr Balotelli – who’s in charge of refereeing’. Platini does go on to say referees have the power to stop a match should the abuse be too much, but what a referee will constitute as being ‘too much’ will be dictated by UEFA. If a player is subject to racial abuse and feels upset to the extent he cannot take it any further, then they should be allowed the right to leave the pitch. Read more
I love reading the FIFA World XI shortlist as soon as it’s been announced, primarily due to a desperation to see as many representatives of Arsenal as possible. (Only one in Robin Van Persie, though I’m counting Cesc Fabregas, so it’s two really) Naturally you get normal gripes, such as why is Maicon featuring as one of the world’s leading right-backs when Bacary Sagna, clearly a better all-round player, is nowehere to be seen on the list. Marcelo, Pepe and Sergio Ramos’ name’s on that list also bemuse me, but I guess they’re there to make up the numbers rather than actually contend for a place in the XI.
I’m not going to list those players selected (55 of them) on here, as it’d be a nightmare to copy up, so instead I’ll give you a link here.
So, who from that list would make your starting XI? Here’s mine…
RW: Cristiano Ronaldo
ST: Robin Van Persie
LW: Lionel Messi
Now let me explain my selections, as there will no doubt be a few counter-arguments to every other player.
In goal, Iker Casillas is going to be the only winner in a dream team competition all day long. He’s been long serving at the top level for Real Madrid, captains Los Blancos, as well as making the Spain No.1 jersey his own, as well as captaining maybe the best national side we’ve ever seen grace a football pitch, so that much is self-explanatory. As for Casillas’ competition for a spot in this team, maybe only Edwin Van Der Saar was going to come close and it would have been easy to pick the Dutchman purely out of sentiment, but being realistic, there was still a level between Casillas and Van Der Saar that even Manchester United fans could recognise.
In defence, well I like my defenders to defend primarily, anything else is a bonus for me, which is why I opted for Philip Lahm at right-back, rather than the marauding Dani Alves. When Arsenal played Barcelona last season, Alves had fast players such as Walcott, Nasri and Arshavin facing him to exploit his poor positioning. It was Alves’ poor positioning which lead to Arsenal’s equaliser so for me, Alves is primarily an attacker, which isn’t what I want. Lahm on the other hand is a world class defender, as well as more than adept at being able to attack his opposition full-back tirelessly. When he retires, Lahm will be remembered as a legend for Germany. At Centre-Back, I’ve opted for Vincent Kompany and Gerard Piqué. I like defenders to play the ball out, rather than kick it long and both players are fantastic with the ball at their feet, especially Gerard Piqué who starts so many attacks for Barcelona. As for Kompany, well he was one of the key reasons behind Manchester City’s success last season and has carried it through to this season, so for me, he’s one of the top in Europe right now. At left-back I barely need to give a reason as to why I’ve selected Ashley Cole. He’s the best left-back in the world at present and that isn’t about to change.
In midfield is where some debate may come to fruition, but I’m confident in my selections. Cesc Fabregas is my favourite player, so was always going to make it on to this list but favouritism aside, there can be no counter-argument for a man who is currently Barcelona’s second-most productive player (in terms of goals and assists) behind Lionel Messi. Add to that he’s been Arsenal’s most creative player for years, as well the Premiership’s, creating more chances than Xavi and Iniesta, despite being in a weaker team at the time, it has to be recognised that Fabregas is a freakish talent and as such, was my first selection for this team.
Yaya Touré may not be so obvious to the naked eye, but again, let me explain. For starters, this team needs to be balanced and Touré is more than able of curbing his own attacking instincts to play a slightly deeper role than Cesc and Ozil. Last season, Touré accumulated eight goals and four assists for Manchester City, a phenomenal return for a player deployed in a different position to what he was used to at Barcelona, playing in a different country, at a different pace. Touré didn’t jut score goals in 3-0 wins either, scoring the only goals in 1-0 wins over Manchester United in the FA Cup Semi-Final, and again in the FA Cup Final itself against Stoke City, securing Manchester City’s first trophy for 35 years.
With more assists than Xavi or Iniesta with a total of 17, (as well as scoring six) Ozil deserves his place in this XI for showing great adaptation following his big-money move from Werder Bremen to Real Madrid. Most other players may have hidden, but not Ozil. Arsene Wenger recently noted that, ‘Kaka isn’t playing at the moment, purely because of Ozil’. That’s a big statement of how far Ozil has come, keeping Kaka out of Real Madrid’s starting XI.
My strike force is a little more predictable. Full of goals, it’s an absolute stat machine. from this season and last season, Messi, Ronaldo and Van Persie have scored a combined total of 191 goals. On that stat alone, I don’t need to justify just how good this strike force is. If these three were ever to miraculously come together in the same team, there would be 9-0 thrashings dished out no matter who they played.
Think you can do better than my effort? I doubt it, but I’d like to see you try all the same…
Morning! I’m going to lie to you, I feel pig-sick today; the sun was glaring down directly on mine and Mat’s seats for a good six hours and as a result, we got sunstroke. To add insult to injury, some whiny-voiced know it all was sat behind us, constantly talking, if he’s reading, then the person in question sported a black earring to match his dark hair…
…mate, you sounded like an ass.
Rant over.
That aside, Mat’s Mum supplied us with sandwiches to take, so after wolfing down two peanut butter sandwiches at Cockfosters before heading home, I felt alright. God bless Mat’s Mum!
Right now getting to the football, I have to note that yes, it’s nice when a living legend comes back to his ‘home club’, I appreciate that and I indulged in a little clapping of my own but for me, that’s as far as it goes; you’re back, enjoy your applause but now you’re the enemy so don’t expect any favours. Thierry Henry got a very nice applause when he came on to train, which I expected and joined in with, I even sung along to his song.
What I do disagree with, is applauding the player for taking the ball past OUR players and clapping in anticipation of Henry’s free-kick. I felt it all very sickly and frankly, embarrassing to watch. I’m there to applaud Arsenal players, not a New York Red Bulls has-been.
In a very sick twist, I was kind of pleased to hear the Emirates turn deafly silent after Red Bulls scored the equaliser, which was crafted by Henry himself. In what was a fairly simple move, Henry split Eboue and Kyle Bartley apart, both on as substitutes, allowing some blonde haired player (Ream, I think) to knock it across goal where Bartley could only put it into the back of his own net. Firstly, I don’t think a defence should have two changes made to it, regardless of the importance of the game, the two needless changes ruined an Arsenal win for a lot of young Gunners fans. I have heard though that Eboue is on the verge of moving away from the Emirates, maybe it was a cameo to say goodbye to everyone? If so, it was fitting that Eboue got ripped to shreds by the Americans, symbolising just what a bad player he is.
Going forward, Arsenal looked much more assured, with Gervinho, Ramsey, Van Persie and Rosicky all looking rather dangerous. Infact, add Benik Afobe to that list, who looked a real handful when he came on for the injured Wilshere (Wilshere is out for a week) and based purely on today’s evidence, Afobe is a player capable of getting a fair amount of game time at the Emirates next season.
Unusually, Arsenal’s goal came through a set-piece, made even more unusual by the fact that Tomas Rosicky was the one to claim the assist, whilst Van Persie scored with his head. Personally I thought the sun had caused me to hallucinate. The replay screen proved me wrong however, and indeed that chains of events did occur.
PSG v Boca Juniors was a match I found very entertaining. For those of you with limited knowledge on the two, PSG looked really sharp; Guileme Hoarau looked a real handful, while his new partner, Kevin Gamerio, a £9 million signing from Lorient, completed a classic ‘big and little’ partnership.
My final note goes to the Boca Juniors fans, who really lightened up the atmosphere inside the Emirates. They won me and Mat over, so much so I’m going to buy their home shirt!
I’M BACK! That’s right, I’m off my holidays and in a few hours time I will be heading back down the M1, along with Mat, (Rainy) to the Emirates Stadium to watch Arsenal, PSG, Boca Juniors and New York Red Bulls play some soccerball in the glorious July sun shine. Could I ask for more? Well I could, I could be drinking a cool Corona Extra once I’m there, though unfortunately law dictates I can’t drink and drive.
Do note that last sentence was firmly light-hearted, I don’t condone drink-driving. I felt it important to note that down, I don’t want my phone pinging left, right and centre during the match feeding me lectures that it’s bad to drink and drive.
On a lighter note, I will be parking up at my local on the way back, happy days!
So, it seems I’m writing in ignorance of the title, starting with the Emirates Cup instead of Manchester City. Ah well. Yesterday marked the first round of games as New York Red Bulls took to the field against Paris Saint Germain in the first match.
New York Red Bulls started the game with Thierry Henry in the dugout, not even named amongst the subs, undoubtedly a precaution so the Frenchman is guaranteed to face Arsenal, his former employers to treat tomorrow’s crowd to a lovely ‘welcome home’ moment. Nothing wrong with that, it’s the reason I chose to attend Sunday’s leg of games rather than the Saturday, purely because of an Arsenal v Henry re-match. Names familiar to English fans are the likes of Teemu Tainio who once played for Tottenham Hotspurs, or Rafael Marquez, once of Barcelona. John Rooney, brother of Wayne also got a run-out (and a few jeers) late on, while ex-Hamburg stalwart, Frank Rost was the goalkeeper, a highly recognisable name for those of you who watch the Bundesliga as much as I do.
Paris Saint Germain, despite all their summer-spending, went down 1-0 in this match, thanks to Joel Lindpere, who scored the only goal of the game after he beat the PSG offside trap, before curling the ball into the opposite corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOl_KBsxCZU
Now, I didn’t see all of Arsenal’s clash with Boca Juniors, partly because it got knocked off of record so I missed the Boca goals. What I will say, is that Arsenal fans, me included, cannot read too much into a pre-season draw. Sure, I’d have loved a win as much as the next man, but after a break, no team in the world would be hitting top form after 3 games against modest opposition. I think there will be a spectacle tomorrow, largely because Thierry Henry will be involved.
However, if Arsenal let another two goal lead slip tomorrow, then you will witness the mother of all moans on here. Pre-season friendly or not, it is acceptable as a one-off in pre-season, not twice in a row against average opposition.
Now, to sign off quickly as I need sleep before my drive, I will finish with Manchester City.
On a holiday accompanied by a few other family, my Uncle, (or rather a very close family friend) a Manchester City fan, got talking on the subject of Mancini’s latest signings. Like I thought, he’s not too fussed with Gael Clichy, his opinion is that Kolarov and Clichy are far too similar for there to be a marked improvement in the left-back department, whilst as good as Zabaleta is, he can’t attack. Basically if you were to mould those three players; Kolarov, Clichy and Zabaleta, into one player, then you would have what Manchester City are looking for.
What I found more intriguing, was his thoughts on Sergio Aguero and how he’ll fit in. Carlos Tevez he said, is a very, very good striker, who hassles defenders, scores goals, runs about and does a very good job of it. What Carlos Tevez isn’t, is a good partner for another striker, such as Dzeko or Balotelli. My Uncle does see Aguero as a direct, much better replacement for a man who can’t play on his own, due to his style being very much like a Rambo film in the sense that he wants to do it all himself.
The past two days at J4G Towers have been rather embarrassing for us. Not only did we give you the Fabregas/Xavi/Iniesta stats first, way before Sky Sports News did, but we also delivered our opinion on the Tevez transfer, saying that if we were the dear owners of the Etihad Stadium, we’d demand more from a European club after Tevez had made so much noise about wanting to go home.
So, was I surprised when I saw this on the Sky Sports News website? No, though I was hacked off when I thought to myself, “hmm, they’ve just copied and pasted what I said yonks ago”. Don’t believe me? Check this out! As I said, this cutting-edge journalism is getting scary here. We’re as sharp as Hobnobs, I tell you.
Corinthians have now pulled out of a deal for the Argentine, whose deemed a hero in his homeland due to his ‘rags to riches’ success story, plus the fact he played for the countries biggest club in Boca Juniors. Landing Tevez would have been sensational for Corinthians, who most certainly would have re-couped the money in shirts and other merchandise sold, such as a Tevez nodding head for the car or something. By the way, I am aware Corinthians are based in Brazil, this doesn’t take away the fact that he’s a big player in Argentina!
Over to Germany briefly, where Borussia Dortmund won the charming, Liga Total Trophy. This pre-season tournament was held in Mainz 05′s new Coface Arena, which will be home to 34,034 Mainz fans, with only 19,700 of that crowd actually seated, which could potentially lead us into a ‘safe standing’ debate in support of the act in England, but that’s for another day.
Mainz 05's Coface Arena – Swanky!
Consisting of four teams; Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Hamburg SV and last but not least, Mainz 05. What charms me most about this mini tournament, is the 30 minutes each way games that are staged, perfect for a pre-season friendly when players don’t want to exert themselves too much, but get a good run around for an hour.
Mainz 05 opened the tournament alongside Bundesliga Champions, Borussia Dortmund. Die Schwarzgelben (The Black Yellows, nickname of Dortmund) took the lead through Ivan Perisic. A Croatian international, Perisic joined Dortmund from Club Brugge having scored 31 goals in 70 appearances for the Belgian outfit. Having scored 22 goals in the 2010-11 campaign, as well as having been awarded the Player of the Year accolade, Perisic joined Borussia Dortmund for a fee believed to be 5 million euros, which is an absolute steal in my eyes, especially at the going rate for talent in current market climes (Perisic is 22).
With Mainz having opened the game in an industrious manner, they struggled to create and it was Perisic’s header, a direct result of a Mario Gotze corner, which gave Dortmund the lead. Mainz soon fell away after that and it was Dortmund who dominated the game, closing it out in superior fashion, with Gotze striking the post, as well as a long range effort Chris Lowe (no relation of Joachim) smashing the crossbar.
Next up was Bayern Munich v Hamburg, in a game where Manuel Neuer was looking to make friends with Bayern fans who haven’t taken kindly to his arrival. A self-confessed Schalke 04 fan, (bitter rivals to none other than Bayern Munich) Bayern fans are not happy with the German No.1 international, even issuing him a code of conduct which states Neuer must not:
1) Sing fan chants into the megaphone, something reserved only for popular players
2) Kneel in front of the team and sing the ‘Humba’ song.
3) Approach the South Stand (Where Bayern ultras sit)
4) Throw his shirt into the crowd
5) Kiss the Bayern badge
Infact, in Neuer’s debut against Italian side Trentino, (Bayern won 15-0) Bayern fans welcomed their new signing with this…
The sign in the background translates as, “you can save as many balls as you like. We will never accept you in our shirt.”
An outburst in German media by Bayern captain and hero, Phillip Lahm later, saw Neuer welcomed in a more receptive manner by Bayern Munich fans at the Coface Arena, though Neuer maybe did very little to convince he doubters he is the answer to what was a very shaky defence last season. Hamburg’s first goal came result of a corner which Neuer flapped at, presenting South Korean international, Son Heung-Min the opportunity to volley home at the far post. A Son Heung-Min brace put Bayern to the sword in Mainz, though a well struck, long range effort from Toni Kroos did make the game less certain for Hamburg in the final stages.
A 5-4 victory on penalties in the third-place game saw Bayern Munich claim said third place, whilst the Final took place between Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg shortly after.
I saw the first ten minutes of this game, went for a run, got back and it was still 0-0 with 20 minutes left to play. With ten minutes remaining, Felipe Santana scored with a header following a cross, a rare goal for the central defender. Mohammed Zidan made it 2-0 moments later after Le Tallec (Damien – brother of ex Liverpool player, Anthony Le Tallec) was fed clean through, only for the keeper to rush him brilliantly – unfortunately for Hamburg, the ball rebounded to a grateful Zidan, who smashed the ball home with apparent ease.
That’s all from me today, I’ll see you in the comments section! Bring the Bratwurst!
Good morning! A piece of good advice from yours truly – do never act ‘brave’ when ordering an Indian, it’s been a painful morning!
Anyway, enough of the above – straight into footballing matters today where early yesterday, Corinthians launched a £35 million bid Manchester City striker, Carlos Tevez.
Since Carlos Tevez handed in his second transfer request in his short stay at Eastlands, Manchester City have realised they must let this immense talent leave, no matter how pivotal to the team Tevez is. This second transfer request did not come as a shock to anybody after highly public appearances on Argentine television, in newspapers and the likes, all stating his desire to leave to be nearer his family.
Now you have to remember that Manchester City are a highly ambitious club now and such outbursts from players and public declarations of their wanting to leave are going to be met with disdane, so it was natural that Manchester City would let him leave. However, amidst this whole saga, Carlos Tevez has continually moaned about how he wishes he could be nearer his family more of the time.
Now in my opinion, if Corinthians had offered me that money for a player undermining the values of the football club, then I would snap that money up like a shot, however if it were a European club, such as Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the likes, I’d demand £70 million, purely after he’d said he wanted to return to his homeland. Tevez is demanding a move back home, or to South America at least, so if thirty-odd million was to be offered by a team from that part of the world, then let him go, if it’s Milan, demand seventy; Tevez is not bigger than Manchester City and if they were to accept a bid from a European club, it would suggest to other sides that Manchester City still aren’t big players in the world market, an image they don’t want to suggest at this moment in time as they look to climb the footballing social ladder.
Basically Carlos, don’t throw stones about in glass houses, especially when you’re contracted to that glass house for many more years, a glass house which doesn’t need to sell you for financial gain.
In more news, Steve Bruce has admitted his signing of Connor Wickham to represent a risk. I can’t get onboard with Bruce on this; signing ANY player represents a risk value, no matter how experienced or or high quality a player is, they’re not always guaranteed to fit a system. I do understand what Bruce is saying though, as there is MORE of a risk than usual in signing potential that may or may not make the grade, especially when that talent comes at a cost; £12 million in Wickham’s case.
However, I don’t see a massive risk here; Wickham is still very young, offers a re-sale value, one which will be very high in the next few years as a result of the 25 man squad rule, which will bunk up the price for all English talent as big clubs will want young, English players to pack out their squads to compete in the league and domestic tournaments. (do remember that you can have as many young, English players as you like) Also, in today’s market, £12 million with only eight of that paid upfront is pretty cheap for English talent, so I’d say that’s a bloody good deal with very little risk value!
