1. Arjen Robben has proven that if you take enough shots in Champions League finals, you will eventually score the winner. He had 24 attempts on goal in three previous finals before his all important effort in the dying minutes of Saturday's final. 2. Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes is bowing out in style.
Villarreal had a disastrous 2011-12 ending in an agonizing relegation to the 2nd division in the
dying minutes of the season. In 2010-11 Villarreal reached the semifinals of the Europa League and
finished 4th in La Liga to qualify for the Champions League. I focus on the performance of
Villarreal in the attacking third of the pitch in 2011 and compare it with that of 2010.
While many of the Premier League's big boys have headed off to the USA for post-season tours, Tottenham travelled to Bahamas to face Jamaica. In this age of wall-to-wall football coverage, there's surprisingly footage from Spurs' Caribbean venture. But one supporter captured this proof that not everything Gareth Bale attempts comes off at the moment.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Disaster has struck. One-man OTP material generator Mario Balotelli is leaving the Premier League. The Italy international has agreed a deal to return to his homeland to play for AC Milan. Only the formality of a medical and a contract signing can now prevent official confirmation that we've lost Mario.
For those of you have read my previous articles and are waiting for something on Seria A or the
Premier League, then sorry to disappoint you and please be patient. Focus now turns to the issues
surrounding Gibraltar and their attempts to gain full acceptance to FIFA and UEFA to become the
latest team to [.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is ready to return to former club Swansea to sign Ashley
Williams, as Daniel Agger is targeted by Manchester City.
According to the Daily Mail, the former Swans boss - who has also been knocked back in his attempts
to entice Team GB star Joe Allen to Anfield - is facing up to the reality of the Danish defender's
departure, despite still having two years to run on his existing contract.
David Luiz scored a late winner with the last kick of the Europa League semi-final between Chelsea and Basel. The Brazilian fired a powerful sidefooted free-kick past goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who is likely to be pretty disappointed with his attempts to make a save. Julio Cesar will be pleased!
Some football pundits make the occasional slip of the tongue, some make more mistakes a
greasy-fingered goalkeeper, and then there's Garth Crooks. You can't fault the former Stoke and
Spurs man for effort with his attempts at analysing the beautiful game, but he is prone to amaze
with the odd broadcasting faux pas.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's ongoing war with his coat saw another vicious battle at the weekend. In the opening stages of Saturday's home win over Norwich, the Frenchman was captured by TV cameras once again engaged in hand-to-hand combat with his knee-length puffa jacket. This time it was the zip that was causing Wenger problems.
Chelsea have failed in their attempts to have a billboard mocking misfiring striker Fernando Torres removed. The poster is part of a series of Paddy Power adverts focusing on under-performing Premier League imports. Backed by a TV campaign, the adverts suggest the players should seek alternative employment until they start pulling their weight on the [.
Liverpool vs Arsenal Preview, line-up and score prediction After what was a disappointing end to
the transfer window, we face Liverpool tomorrow at Anfield. They themselves had a terrible ending
to the window when Tottenham of all teams hijacked their attempts to sign Clint Dempsey. Overall, I
think Arsenal have had a decent window, although [.
and the madness has begun. It's all based around Theo Walcott and his apparent refusal to sign a
new contract with the club. As I mentioned on yesterday's blog, he was one of the players I felt
could leave the club this week because of his contract issue. The situation is he has less than 12
months left on his deal, Arsenal face the prospect of losing him on a free and for that reason
alone his departure would not be a surprise.
It was in all the papers so it must be true. Sir Alex F has said his club "have hit a brick wall
in their attempts to sign Robin van Persie from Arsenal."
"We have made a bid and they [Arsenal] have been trying to negotiate with other clubs. I don't
[...]
I'm not exactly sure what Manchester City's manager Roberto Mancini is getting paid to do, but
apparently signing new players isn't it. Mancini admitted that player transfers are out of his
hands as somebody else looks after them. This somebody is reportedly Brian Marwood, who is listed
as the club's football director.
Liverpool are thought to have had a bid for Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero rejected, if
reports in the The Daily Mail are to be believed.
Brendan Rodgers is looking to stamp his mark on his inherited Reds squad, and is eager to bring new
players to Anfield this summer.
Granero is the latest homegrown player to emerge from the Real Madrid Castilla, and has been part
of the Santiago Bernabeu first team for a number of years now.
In Sunday's 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders FC, FC Dallas finished the game with 24 total shots,
but that number's a bit misleading. See, MLS labels all shots as attempts on goal, which isn't
exactly true. Shots on goal are actually termed as shots on target. So FCD finished Sunday's tie
with the denizens of the Emerald City with seven shots on goal compared to just four by the
visitors.
In Seattle's thrashing of Chivas USA the Sounders defense gave the Goats opportunities. On shots
from within the 18 (MLS average ~20% conversion rate) Chivas converted only one of their sixteen
attempts. Those attempts are somewhat evenly scattered throughout the match timeline. Things could
have been different.
10 games without a win. It's the easiest stat to dwell on. And it should be dwelled on. I think
you know why.
But there are other stats from the match that are worth noting as well. From the run of play,
for example, the Revolution and the Philadelphia Union were almost even in all categories except
for two that stand out: Attempts on goal and possession.
RICHMOND, VA – Matthew Delicate became Richmond's all-time leading scorer with a stoppage time
penalty kick as the Kickers secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions.
Entering the match as a 65th minute substitute, Delicate had a number of close calls before scoring
his 64th goal in a Richmond uniform.
So I have the joy of writing the post match for a game one of our beloved readers labelled as
"b-o-r-i-n-g". I could probably sum this match up in just a few words, but that's not exactly my
style, now is it? Read on after the jump for my half-asleep analysis and opinions. You know you
want to.
In one of the most exciting transfer deadline day moves, US National Team player Clint Dempsey
reportedly turned down a deal with Aston Villa while Liverpool reportedly made multiple attempts to
workout a transfer. Instead, according to multiple outlets Dempsey is now a member of Tottenham
Hotspur. Dempsey signed a three-year deal.
Ruiz-Duff-goal! A minute in and Fulham had the lead at Old Trafford, a clever free-kick and a
neat finish.
Beggars can't be choosers so there's no sense saying that we scored too early, but it did almost
feel that way. Now United couldn't just feel their way into the game; they had to fight for it.
Ruiz-Duff-goal! A minute in and Fulham had the lead at Old Trafford, a clever free-kick and a
neat finish.
Beggars can't be choosers so there's no sense saying that we scored too early, but it did almost
feel that way. Now United couldn't just feel their way into the game; they had to fight for it.
Liverpool is ready to offer Fulham cash and Charlie Adam in an attempt to wrap up a deal for Clint
Dempsey.
After concluding a move for Joe Allen, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will now step up his attempts
to land the American international, who is keen to leave Craven Cottage for a bigger club.
Could Carroll get a start?...
Image: guardian.co.ukHearts are the opposition for Liverpool on Thursday night as they continue
their attempts to proceed through the Europa League rounds. The Reds will look for a result to take
back to Anfield and with Manchester City looming at the weekend they will surely want to go about
this in the easiest way possible.
Coventry full-back Cyrus Christie picked up a bizarre yellow card after he attempted to trip up a pitch invader. The 20-year-old attempted to thwart a topless fan, who ran onto the pitch during last night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy northern final first-leg against Crewe. As if a 0-3 home defeat didn't make Christie's night miserable enough, [.
As the final whistle was blown on our 1-0 victory over Sunderland on the final day of the
season, we were top of the league, waiting for the game at the Etihad to end. News came through at
the Stadium of Light that City had scored two late goals and had won the league, leading Sunderland
fans to do their best poznan celebration.
That is the maxim which has been known as "The Golden Rule" for several centuries, but how would
Newcastle United feel if they were treated the way they have been treating some other clubs
recently? Make no mistake, there have been reams of complete fiction embroidered around our recent
attempts to sign players in an [.
Real Madrid are in Philadelphia for a friendly against Celtic on Saturday. While there, they've
been training at the Philadelphia Eagles' complex and several Madrid players were special guests at
the Eagles' preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
To help promote Saturday's match, the Madrid players attempted field goals with American
footballs at halftime (after practicing earlier in the day) and Sergio Ramos caught the
commentators' attention by making a 53-yarder (for a point of reference, the longest field goal in
NFL history is 63 yards).
Yesterday afternoon the Timbers managed to not lose for the first time in six games as they tied
FC Dallas 1-1. After looking outclassed at times in the first half, the Timbers gave up a goal
early on after half-time but struggled back and, thanks to a red card to Dallas's Zack Loyd and
some persistence from captain Jack Jewsbury in keeping pressure on the shorthanded Dallas
back-line, the team managed to pull even.
After being humiliated in their attempts tp host Everton and Galatasaray in the Java Cup, Indonesia
is now going to try again. This time with the SCTV Cup.
This is scheduled to take place in September and will feature Indonesia, Indonesia U22, Malaysia
U22 and North Korea.
The Indonesians do like to have a pop at the Malaysians for various childish things, they steal our
culture blub blub, but fair play to the Malaysians, they are always up for a kick around.
Megan Rapinoe had yet another great game in the 2012 Olympics. She had one assist and one goal
in the match against Colombia today. In a match that was chippy and uneven, Rapinoe was able to
focus and carry the match. It seemed as if the Colombian's game plan was to disrupt and slow the
game any chance they got.
Real Salt Lake moved a step closer to first-place San Jose in the Western Conference standings
after posting a 2-1 victory against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday
night.
Costa Rican striker Alvaro Saborio headed home a Ned Grabavoy cross in the 58th minute, just six
minutes after Whitecaps rookie Darren Mattocks equalized for the Whitecaps.
The Roman philosopher, rhetorician and satirist Apuleius is well-know (though perhaps not by
name because to save us all time, I went ahead, looked up who said this quote and replied "Who?")
for the quote, "Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration."
In my research, I also discovered that Apuleius is also well-known for saying: "He is better
equipped for life, as for swimming, who has the less to carry.
Rejoice! Tottenham's new kits for 2012/13 have been leaked (from a promo event earlier today),
and it looks like new strip manufacturers Under Armour have got it just about spot on with their
first crack at a Spurs strip...
â—„ Back Next â–º Picture 1 of 2
Tottenham 2012/13 Home Kit - Under Armour
Personally, and this is just nit-picking, we prefer to see Tottenham in the old 'white
shirts/blue shorts/white socks' configuration, but we ain't complaining really.
First of all, read my recap of the last Vancouver game. Now that you've done that I can skip most
of my recap of this game. The Rapids dominated this game and lost 1-0. 17 attempts on goal to 3, 6
shots on target to 1. Vancouver's 1 shot went in, none of the Rapids shots came close. That was the
difference.
So, as you're all no doubt aware at this stage, Robin van Persie released a statement yesterday
in which he revealed, after thinking 'long and hard', that he would not be extending his Arsenal
contract.
And if it were just that, then I don't think anybody would be too surprised or upset this
morning.
