Fixtures For New Season / Away Days
Good morning. Shortly after I publish this article, all of the fixtures for next season will be released and we will all be planning our lives around who our team is playing. Football supporters sacrifice so much to follow their team around the country, skipping social events with friends and Read more
The Joe Kinnear Show / Arsenal To Land Higuain
Good morning. Joe Kinnear was a theatrical, comedic goldmine yesterday on Talksport, saying that he's "more intelligent" than Newcastle United supporters and showing a crushing inability to pronounce the names of Newcastle's top players. Kinnear called Yohan Cabaye, "Yohan Kebab" and have you ever heard of Hatem Ben Affri? Kinnear Read more
Joe Kinnear Back at Newcastle / Confederations Cup
Good morning. Joe Kinnear has re-joined Newcastle United under the guise of "Director of Football." Due to the absurdity of the appointment, I could finish the blog here and leave you to chew on that information for the entirety of your Monday. It is a very bizarre development at Newcastle, as Read moreBetting tips for the Premier League: who will be favourites next season to win?
The new Premier League season is set to be an exciting one, thanks to a raft of changes that have occurred at the top clubs since the end of the last one, which leave things feeling less predictable than they have for a while. The fact that Chelsea have Read more
Chelsea Agree Schuerrle Deal / Ronaldo Doesn't Sign A New Contract.
Good morning. As I trawled through the various football websites this morning, all I saw was this... Tumbleweed. Lots and lots of tumbleweed. The transfer window hasn't opened and won't do so until the July 1st, so we should all calm down in that regard. At the moment it feels as Read more
Good morning!
My apologies that this post is way behind schedule, but someone may or may not have overlay on their day off. Isn’t it typical, that when you promise yourself an early bed time, you get in bed for 10 o’clock and then BOOM, you’re wide awake and playing games on your iPhone for three hours. Hence lying in this morning. Still, at least I have a day off, it could have been much worse. Read more
Good morning!
The three-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist has been completed and there are few surprises in amongst that three, with Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo all vying for the award.
Naturally, Lionel Messi looks the obvious victor for the famous award and is favourite to win. The Argentinian is expected to win the award for a fourth time in a row and scored a phenomenal 50 La Liga goals last season, bagging 77 goals in total for club and country in all competitions throughout the 2011/12 season. Messi also assisted 27 goals in all competitions and as usual, simply thrilled us everybody fortunate to watch him in 2012, whether it be via the TV, live at Camp Nou, or even via a Radio station. Messi makes people dream of what they imagined they could be like when they were 10. He’s a football player who makes it seem as if he’s playing in his back garden. Read more
Sometimes, the moon and a variety of other planets, stars and so on, all line up just perfectly to allow an amazing weekend of football. This weekend, it’s safe to say, was one of those moments in time where everything falls nicely and the world can sit back and marvel at some wonderful football.
Amongst the fixtures, Barcelona hosted Real Madrid at the Nou Camp, the Milan derby took place, rivals Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain went toe to toe and FC Porto were at home to Sporting Lisbon. So, so many big matches took place and there’s still the English Premier League to account for, where a staggering 34 goals were scored. On top of all of that, I played my first Sunday League match in over a year, which is clearly just as important…
… or maybe not. Read more
Guys, I’ve asked once already, ‘GIVE ME THE BALL!’
Morning.
I say this every single time we have an international break, but, ‘I hate it’. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that the national teams need time together and with the limited time they have together ahead of major tournaments, I fully understand international breaks, plus, when else would you play qualifying matches? What I hate, is how it disrupts what most of us live for at a weekend, watching our respective club sides do battle and if you’re a fan of Liverpool for example, this break couldn’t have arrived at a better moment, but what if you’re a fan of Arsenal, Swansea, Manchester United and so on? All you want is to play the next game when you’re in form.
Plus, what the hell am I supposed to write on a Wednesday during an international break? Read more
I want to play with the ball for a bit!!
Morning.
It must be horrible, doing everything possible to force a move to another club to play under your boyhood hero, only for said hero to leave after one season of working with him and the new coach deciding that he doesn’t have sufficient space for you in his side, forcing you to play in a position you haven’t played for four years and do not enjoy. Of course, I’m talking about Cesc Fábregas.
Having practically forced through a transfer to Barcelona out of desperation to move back home, Fábregas was excited to be playing under his boyhood idol, Pep Guardiola. The feeling of excitement was reciprocated on Guardiola’s behalf, indulging in playing Fabrégas in his favourite role, just behind a main striker, close to Lionel Messi. Guardiola had changed the shape of his team to suit the inclusion of Fábregas and David Villa hardly started in the time he wad fit before breaking his leg. Cesc enjoyed a good first season back home, scoring nine goals and managing eight assists in La Liga competition, before injury late in the season hampered his form. For a first season back however, it was a very good start for Cesc. Read more
Bugger off, Luka.
Morning!
Well, that news came from the wilderness, didn’t it? Not in a millenium of blue moons would I have predicted Real Madrid to be interested in Luke Modric. In fact, I would have fell backwards in shock if it were not the fact that the whole ‘Modric-Real Madrid’ saga has been dragged out for months in the same vein as Cesc Fabregas and his whole move to Barcelona was last season. Moving to a less sarcastic note, the saga of Modric’s future has come to an end. Much to everybody’s relief.
To be fair, was it ever a saga? We all knew Modric was leaving, it was just a case of when, much to the frustration of Daniel Levy and Andre Villas Boas. Much like the Fabregas deal last season, it was inevitable Modric was leaving, as was the Spaniard, and much to the detriment of Arsenal, it ruined their pre-season plans and their early season form suffered greatly. Read more
Jose Mourinho – Looks like a ‘Thunderbirds’ villain.
Despite his remarkable record of success with Porto, Chelsea, and Inter Milan, many pundits wondered whether the Real Madrid hotseat would be a job too far for managerial firebrand Jose Mourinho. The club’s recent track record of boardroom meddling and frequent managerial changes did not bode well, and many thought that Mourinho’s pragmatic playing style would be at odds with Madrid’s free-flowing football philosophy. For the latest football betting odds, visit Skybet.com.
Upon arriving in Madrid, he set about radically overhauling the first team with a clutch of new signings, including Argenine winger Angel di Maria, German playmaker Mesut Ozil, teutonic midfield enforcer Sami Khedira, and former Porto and Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho. For many years, Real Madrid had been weak in defence, partly because of a transfer policy that favoured big-name attacking players, and partly because of the playing style enforced on successive managers by the Madrid top brass.
The defensive side of Madrid’s play was the first thing that Mourinho looked to address, forcing them to play a tighter, more organized game based around pressing and possession. This drew criticism from some quarters, with many feeling that he had somehow betrayed Madrid’s heritage by placing so much emphasis on defence. However, the strategy proved to be effective, and once the team had adapted to Mourinho’s philosophy, the results started to come thick and fast. Read more
The greatest team the world has ever seen?
Over the years, there have been many teams that collectively look as though they have no weak links. A strong collective unit that seemed impenetrable, unassailable and unstoppable. I want to look at some of these teams that have graced the football pitch over the generations to see which could be considered the best.
1. Arsenal Invincibles – 2003/04
The first team to go through a whole domestic season unbeaten, winning the Premier League on a then record of 90 points. The whole team through and through had quality oozing from it and to not lose a Premier League game in that period was completely ridiculous and is unlikely to be repeated again. By no means am I insinuating the Arsenal defence now is no good, but the defence then was so solid. Lauren, Campbell, Toure and Ashley Cole is a defence that in its prime, was full of pace, solidity and world class talent. The midfield wasn’t too bad either with the pace of Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg and the towering figure of Patrick Vieira with the role of defence going to either Silva or Parlour. Solidity was their key success but that’s not denying the strength of the attack of Henry and Bergkamp. You could say their only flaw was in Europe, dropping out at the Quarter Final stage to Chelsea, when realistically, the route to the final was theirs for the taking in my opinion. But unarguably, they were great champions of the domestic game, showing power, panache and punchiness. Read more
What if?
It’s fair to say that through the 2011/12 season, La Liga has thrown up a few major surprises. Villarreal’s relegation, coupled with the rise of Malaga, has made it a very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable division this season. Of course, it has had its predictability, such as the top two being Barcelona and Real Madrid yet again, but it has thrown up some major talking points which I would like to look at.
The first is the surprise relegation of Villarreal. I pose to you this, exactly eight months ago, they were in the Champion’s League playing Bayern Munich and Manchester City, yet next season, they face trips away to Xerez and Alicante. It’s been a rapid decline for such a well run club with such a rich European history of recent years. Many fans will remember they were a penalty conversion away from forcing Arsenal into extra time in the 2006 Champions League semi finals. Six years ago, that famous night may have seemed the pinnacle of what would happen to such an understated club, but no, it got better. Read more
Once a man with hair, watching Lionel Messi play every day has finally proved too much for Guardiola.
Good morning!
There’s only really the one place we can start today, and that would be Barcelona, where manager Pep Guardiola is believed to be quitting his position as manager after winning just the three trophies this year.
In news that will certainly alert top clubs across Europe, including Chelsea and, for some reason, AC Milan and Manchester City (I personally think Allegri and Mancini are doing very well in their jobs). Despite a clamour of clubs wishing to land Guardiola as manager, it is believed that the former Barcelona and Brescia player will take a year out of the game.
As a manager, Guardiola only accepts one year extensions of his deal and come the end of the last few seasons, it always seems as if we’ve been discussing Guardiola’s future, but never has there been anything as ‘concrete’ as this latest development in the whole Guardiola-Barcelona love saga.
Negotiations started yesterday for a new one year deal, with negotiations rapidly turning into attempts of locking Guardiola to a nearby filing cabinet in an attempt to force Guardiola to stay. The part about a filing cabinet is most definitely false, but Sandro Rosell would have been pleading with Guardiola to accept the extension and, as reported by the Daily Mail, (not that I read it) told Guardiola to, ‘sleep on it’.
Personally, I don’t understand why Pep Guardiola would want to quit. This is the first season in which Barcelona have experienced genuine problems during Guardiola’s reign and if Guardiola is the man to leave a position every time the going gets tough, well, he’d have left Arsenal seven times in seven years, and resigned as Chelsea manager just after agreeing a deal to become manager.
I do doubt very much that Guardiola is quitting on those grounds however. As much as I’d like to poke fun at the fact it must be difficult for Guardiola to spectate as Messi scores a hat-trick every other week, I do believe that the pressure which partners the Barcelona managerial position has proved too much for a young man yet to experience managing anybody outside of Barcelona.
It is believed that Guardiola has become concerned with relations between himself and a few players. Barcelona have not been performing to their optimum level, something which comes hand in hand with being displayed as the Harlem Globetrotters, having to compete all over the world as a result of their brilliance. This pressure and magnitude of pressure is certainly affecting Guardiola, who lets remember, is essentially inexperienced as a manager and as a result, this is impacting on his players who are growing unsure as to whether Guardiola will stay on as manager.
Guardiola is expected to announce his decision just after the season’s end. I’m looking forward to seeing the fall-out from this and what actually happens. I’m not one to speculate about the future, so I’m not going to say where Guardiola might end up or who indeed might replace him, though the coming weeks will certainly prove interesting as this saga unfolds.
That’s yer lot from me today, sorry it’s short one, I hate Fridays for news. See you Monday!
