Two gameweeks have passed in the Fantasy Premier League and now we know a little bit more about the strenghts and weaknesses of all teams and players.
Last weeks tips were a great success as Arsenal beat Blackpool 6-0 and Chelsea Wigan with the same numbers. Arsenal's Walcott scored a hattrick and collected amazing 21 points, not bad for a player with a pricetag of £7.

Back again to give you Fantasy Premier League tips. Sorry for the lack of post in the last week, I was sick and wasn't able to give my thoughts about that gameweek.
But as I said, now it's time to look at the gameweek 5.
Chelsea has been dominating in the first few rounds and as they now go against riser Blackpool on their hometurf, it's very like Drogba, Anelka, Kalou, Essien and co keep on scoring goals and collecting points.

With a chance to extend our lead to four points at the KC Stadium last night we blew it with some sloppy defending from a set piece once more.
We still took an additional point last night to extend the lead over United to 2 points but we all know it could of been and should of been so much more!

The Champions League is providing plenty of interesting stories, for example, do you remember Vincent Enyeama? He was the Nigerian goalkeeper in the 2010 South Africa World Cup, and he basically stopped Messi from scoring his first goal of the World Cup.
Well, Enyeama became the third goalkeeper ever to score in a Champions League match when he slotted in his penalty for Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

While the first forty-five minutes on Sunday were not kind to Manchester United in their hopes of winning the title, one thing was completely unexpected... If you were watching the game on Fox Soccer Plus, Manchester United's game hadn't even kicked off before Chelsea took a 1-0 lead thanks to the strike of Anelka.

All the 32 teams participating in the FIFA World Cup 2010 which starts in South Africa from June 11 have announced their preliminary squads of 30 which will eventually be cut down to 23.
Several Chelsea players are participating in the tournament and here is a list of players included in the preliminary squads.

I've got an exam tomorrow so just a quick post. Moreover, I'm going to avoid writing an obituary for Cesc's Arsenal career because I'd be surprised to see him leave.
Nevertheless, it is important to negotiate a player-exchange deal if he is going to be sold. The biggest problem for Arsene last summer was that having sold Adebayor everybody knew he had money.

Chelsea have made approximately 50 signings since the take-over of Roman Abramovich. About £470 million (and William Gallas) has been spent on these players – that averages out at just over £9 million (and one of Gallas' hands) per player.

Compiling a list of the best 10 signings in this time is not a simple task and there will, no doubt, be objections.

As everybody who follows Paddytheflea regularly knows I am a sucker for stats. I believe stats can say something about the game of football more objective than the statements of pundits and fans opinions. Partly because stats are free from sentiments and partly because stats are systematic in their nature and looks over long periods [.

Chelsea 8 Wigan 0 (Premier League, Mayo 9, 2010)
El equipo del magnate ruso Abramovich dirigido por el italiano Carlo Ancelotti se corono campeón de la que para muchos es la mejor liga del mundo.
Wigan, del colombiano Hugo Rodallega, fue goleado en la última fecha del campeonato y le impidió al Manchester United conservar la corona.

El segundo partido del tricolor nacional sera contra los gallos franceses, recordemos que la clasificación de Francia fue la mas polémica de todas dejando fuera en el repechaje a los aguerridos irlandeses, con la ya famosa Mano de Thierry Henry.

En el mundial 2002 convivi con muchos irlandeses que son muy similares al mexicano común, son católicos, sufridores,beben mucha cerveza de la buena y dan con todo.

The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the opinions and more....
So here are the Chelsea news updates on Wednesday 18th August 2010 including: Nico Anelka's ban from the French set up and is reaction which has caused a stir!

Revisar
Alemania
Miroslav Klose – @KloseMiroslav
Manuel Neuer – @ManuelNeuer
Lukas Podolski – @Podolski10
Argelia
Hassan Yebda – @hassanyebda19
Argentina
Sergio Agüero – @aguerosergiokun
Gonzalo Higuain – @HiguainPipita
Fernando Gago - @GiseyFer
Javier Mascherano – @javimascherano
Diego Milito – @SignoreMilito
Australia
Harry Kewell – @harrykewell19
Tim Cahill – @TimCahill30
Brasil
Alex Silva - @alex_silva03
Felipe Melo – @_FelipeMelo_
Fred - @fredgol9
Gilberto Silva – @GilbertoSilva15
Grafite – @Graffa23
Juliano Belletti – @julianobelletti
Julio César – @JulioCesarGol
Kaká – @RealKaka
Luis Fabiano – @luis_fabuloso
Robinho – @robinhoooficial
Ronaldinho - @Ronaldinho
Chile
Alexis Sánchez – @AlexisS7
Humberto "Chupete" Suazo – @ChupeteSuazo
Colombia
Radamel Falcao García - @R9FALCAO
Corea del Sur
Park Chu-Young – @JYPark10
Park Ji-Sung – @jisung81
Costa de Marfil
Didier Drogba – @realdrogba
Dinamarca
Nicklas Bendtner – @Bendtner
España
Xabi Alonso - @XabiAlonso
Álvaro Arbeloa – @aarbeloa
Santiago Cañizares - @santicanizares
Iker Casillas – @icasillasf
Cesc Fabregas - @cesc4official
Andrés Iniesta – @andresiniesta8
Juan Manuel Mata – @juanmata10
Gerard Piqué – @GerardPique
Carlos Puyol – @Carles5puyol
Sergio Ramos – @Camas1986
Gaizka Toquero - @gaizkatoquero
Fernando Torres - @it9
Estados Unidos
Jozy Altidore – @JozyAltidore17
DaMarcus Beasley – @DaMarcusBeasley
Alejandro Bedoya – @AleBedoya17
Jonathan Bornstein – @jonnyb_13
Edson Buddle – @EdsonBuddle
Charlie Davies – @CharlieDavies9
Landon Donovan – @landondonovan
Maurice Edu – @MauriceEdu
Alecko Eskandarian – @alecko11
Hérculez Gómez – @herculezg
Brad Guzan – @bguzan
Stuart Holden – @stuholden22
Oguchi Onyewu – @OguchiOnyewu5
Carl Robinson – @CarlRobinson33
Robbie Rogers – @robbierogers
Francia
Nicolas Anelka – @anelkaofficiel
Drauode Cissé – @edu6c
Lassana Diarra – @lassanadiarra
Patrice Evra – @FrenchPat
William Gallas – @WilliamGallas
Yoann Gourcuff – @Yoann_Gourcuff
Steve Mandanda – @stevemandanda
Florent Malouda – @realflorentm
Ghana
John Mensah – @MensahActing
John Pantsil – @JohnPantsil
Grecia
Sotirios Kyrgiakos – @SotoKyrgiakos
Holanda
Ryan Babel – @RyanBabel
Klass-Jan Huntelaar – @klaashuntelaar
Arjen Robben – @RealArjenRobben
Gregory van der Wiel – @Gvanderwiel
Robin Van Persie – @RobinVanPersie7
Sneijder Wesley – @sneijder_wesley
Honduras
Carlo Yair – @carlocostly13 (lesionado)
David Suazo – @dsuazo
Maynor Figueroa – @MaynorFigueroa
Inglaterra
David Beckham - @davidbeckam_23
Ashley Cole – @ahleycole
Peter Crouch – @PeterCrouch
Jermain Defoe – @JermainDefoe
Steven Gerrard – @Stevie_Gerrard
Emile Heskey – @EmileHeskey_18
Ledley King – @ledders_king
Frank Lampard – @franklampard8
Wayne Rooney – @waynerooneyno10
Italia
Gianluigi Buffon – @gigi_buffon1
Fabio Cannavaro – @fabiocannavaro
Giorgio Chiellini – @chiellini
Alberto Gilardino – @Gilalberto11
Federico Macheda – @f_macheda
Japón
Shunsuke Nakamura – @realNakamura
México
Jesús Arellano - @Kbrito38
Pablo Barrera – @pablitobarrera
Cuauhtemoc Blanco – @cuauhtemocb10
Andrés Guardado – @andresgual8
Efraín Juárez – @efrajuarez
Rafael Marquez – @MarquezMX
Luis Ernesto Michel – @luisemichel
Guillermo Ochoa – @yosoy8A
Ricardo Osorio – @RicardoOsorio3
Gerardo Torrado – @gerardotorrado6
Nigeria
John Obi Mikel – @johnobimikel
Nueva Zelanda
Ben Sigmund – @Siggy2010
Paraguay
Roque Santa Cruz – @R_SantaCruz
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo – @OfficialRonaldo
República Checa
Tomáš Ujfaluši - @TomasUjfa
Serbia
Aleksandar Luković – @zerikc
Suecia
Zlatan Ibrahimovic - @ZlatansOfficial
Suiza
Tranquillo Barnetta – @barnettafan
Sudáfrica
Lance Davids – @ldavidsofficial
Kagisho Dikgacoi – @Kgdikgacoi
Benni McCarthy – @RealBenniMcCart
Aaron Mokoena – @aaronmokoena
Steven Pienaar – @therealstevenpi
Uruguay
Diego Forlan – @DiegoForlan7Todas mis notas en Periodismo de fútbol internacional

Carlos Vela (Arsenal) and Efrain Juarez (Celtic) are banned from the Mexico National Team for 6 months following their role in organizing a party for the team earlier this month.

A few weeks ago,media outlets reported that the Mexico National Team was being investigated for their celebrations after their recent international game against Colombia.

After another fantastic display for Chelsea and yet another calm, composed and class finish against Spartak last night, Carlo Ancelotti has heaped praise on Nicolas Anelka. He said:

"Anelka was the key to opening the game, He scored a fantastic goal - the most important this evening.

Premier League Team News - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet The news from Arsenal (or at least it is news to me) is that Denilson is out this week with an abdominal injury. This definitely leaves me wondering about who will nominally play in the holding spot this weekend for Arsenal. Denilson wasn't a great choice as a replacement for Song but he IS a better choice than anyone else on

Well its been a while and with a little bit of luck on our side for a change in the last week or so we still sit at the top of the League. Arsenal and United missed their chance to put pressure on us and now its our chance to put pressure back on those two. We finally have some Premier League action and the great news is that Anelka is back fit and raring to go!

So with United winning against Arsenal on Sunday its another must win game for us tonight. We travel to the KC Stadium to take on Hull in our game in hand on the others and we simply must win to re-establish our four point lead over United ahead of this weekends games.
Tonight it looks as though we will welcome Didier Drogba back into the starting line up along with Ricardo Carvalho and Deco but its Didier's comeback that will be the main talking point and questions from Chelsea fans as to how Ancelotti will line the side up this evening.

When the draw was made back in December, everyone looked at this matchup as the glamour tie of the round of 16. Back then Chelsea were riding high and Inter were struggling as little, and nobody gave Inter much of a chance against probably the second best team in Europe.

But luckily for Inter the games are being played now instead of before Christmas.

Florent Malouda carries Louis Vuitton. Niko Anelka carries Gucci.

And Joe Cole? God love him, he carries GQ.

Florent Malouda carries Louis Vuitton. Niko Anelka carries Gucci.

And Joe Cole? God love him, he carries GQ.

Still too early for United to start celebrating

Another weekend, another twist in the race for the coveted prize of the Premier League. This weekend saw two different league leaders and one team slip a little off the pace. Seeing the reaction of Liverpool's no. 1 fan Gary Neville, you would have thought they had just won the title – especially when listening to the talk of the fans after the game who sounded confident – wait, actually cocky – in their views and opinions.

So there's another season of nothingness for Manchester City, with Tottenham Hotspur claiming the final Champions League spot for next season this evening.

Despite repeated talk of "the power shift in Manchester" it's hard to see the evidence for this. Yes, City have got a lot more money than us and yes, City spent £47m for a player who scored 5 goals for United last season, but I don't see how the power is shifting.

Sir Alex bemoans another missed chance by Berbatov.

With Chelsea up 1pt and only one game left in the season, the Manchester United faithful were praying for a miracle at Stamford Bridge. Their hopes were crushed 6 minutes into the Chelsea match as Anelka started the first of many goals for Chelsea.

11.06.2010 - Calígula - Un partido difícil de tragar cuya indigestión podía preverse desde los primeros cinco minutos de juego, cuando sólo el silbato del árbitro (infracciones) lograba bajar la pelota al piso, hicieron Francia y Uruguay en Green Point (Ciudad del Cabo) por el partido nº 2 del Grupo A.

Au revior?

There's a well known saying that states what goes around, comes around. It's something that Raymond Domenech and his French team should think about this evening. Eight months after that infamous game with Republic of Ireland that saw Thierry Henry literally hand the French their World Cup place, they themselves are now staring at a group stage exit from the competition after tonight's 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

I watched the Mexico v France game last night and it was good to see our manager watching the game too. He would have seen the freshness in which Mexico played, the ball was moved very quickly from defence to attack, the ball stuck to the Mexico players like it had Blue Tack on it even when it was passed with a vengeance, the swiftness of the attack was like our reserves in an early round of the Carling Cup.

Nico Anelka has been sent home after a row with the outgoing France manager Raymond Domenech. Anelka who was substituted at half time during the 2-0 defeat to Mexico was reported as being on the end of a tirade from the manager in the changing room for playing out of position as he went in search of the ball.

Javier Hernández entró en el segundo tiempo para darle a México un gol (m.64) también histórico porque su abuelo materno, Tomás Balcazar le anotó a Francia en el Mundial de 1954; Cuauhtémoc Blanco, el veterano de 37 años, completó la victoria con un penalti (m.79).

El equipo mexicano aprovechó la sequía de goles de Francia y con un partido inteligente y un buen control de balón los derrotó para sumar cuatro puntos en el grupo A que completan el líder Uruguay y Sudáfrica.

Nico Anelka has been sent home after a row with the outgoing France manager Raymond Domenech. Anelka who was substituted at half time during the 2-0 defeat to Mexico was reported as being on the end of a tirade from the manager in the changing room for playing out of position as he went in search of the ball.

By Darshan Joshi

We have already exposed the whirlpools of infighting that have, especially in the past week, engulfed the French national side in South Africa. If you haven't yet familiarised yourselves with what did happen, this piece of news is going to astonish you. In a nutshell, though, here is what has already happened:

- Raymond Domenech is utterly mad

- Legends like Zinedine Zidane, Just Fontaine and Bixente Lizarazu have castigated the national team, and coach

- William Gallas is jealous that Patrice Evra got chosen as captain ahead of him

- Florent Malouda was inexplicably left out of the opening match against Uruguay, and that didn't sit well with the players, or Malouda himself

- Sidney Govou was picked for both matches, despite not being at full form.

Yikes! Let's hope it's not # 7!

There are few worse ways for a player's World Cup journey to end than in injury. Being carted off the field to polite applause knowing you won't return must be devastating. This year's tournament hasn't seen any major breakdowns but it has definitely caused an array of strange ailments.

In my experience, predictions made by the ‘expert pundits' have a success rate equal to that of Bangladesh in Test Cricket. Factor in that even a draw counts as a success to the Bangladeshis and it makes this statistic infinitely bleaker. All sooth saying that have been done with Reputations as a frame of reference this time around in South Africa have fallen flat; as flat as Russell Peters' stand up shows are when you watch them for even just the second time.

Contrary to Iker Casillas' confidence in Ashley Cole's prospective move to Real Madrid, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has declared that the full-back will not be leaving Stamford Bridge this summer.

Despite the player's unsettled time in London due to complaints about media intrusion in his personal life, Ancelotti has gone as far as saying that he is 100% certain about the England international's presence in the Blues squad next season without even speaking with him.

He only shaves every third day because, well, he's Dimitar Berbatov
We looked at the age old strikers quandary yesterday - a classic fantasy football issue that has shaped and influenced our thinking for years now, and today let's take a brief look at a striker floating between the "affordable" and "expensive" buckets for the first time ever, yup, it's "Dimitar Dimitar Berbatov.

An actual news clip, presented by someone who stole Yoann Gourcuff's eyeliner.

• A trip which apparently went very, very well. (World Football Insider)
• Pish, who needs Ozil? (Bundesliga Talk)
• Loic Remy celebrates his move to Marseille. (Ugly Dance)
• I think this makes Napoli the Comeback Kids.

So many goals, 38 goals to be exact. With so many teams thrashing others, the Premier League is really beginning to get exciting. Along with this, Chelsea have achieved the best start in Premier League history, two wins and a goal difference of 12 goals. And now, let's see how many teams got thrashed, starting with Liverpool.

Some Fantasy Premier League specific matchday musings for you after an interesting and unpredictable (Wigan / Sunderland) weekend... Watched the Aston Villa Everton match today and though I think he is a superb manager, I have to say that ... Continue reading →

So, we started writing a few posts during the week last week highlighting players that were impressing in the mid-week fixtures and/or needed some attention / love heading into the weekend fixtures. Think of it as sort of "early" Funny ... Continue reading →

GK Robert Green West Ham United, the former England number one has struggled since his gaffe in the World Cup. He has produced some decent saves this season, but let in some soft goals too. West Ham's decision to stick with him though has obviously helped with his confidence as he produced a very good display against the Spurs.