At least, we might surmise, the waves of panic might be starting to recede from lapping against
the walls of Anfield now. On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool put in about as complete a performance as
could have been hoped for considering their wretched start to the season against West Bromwich
Albion eight days previously in holding Manchester City to a two-all draw in front of the
television cameras.
Ep.25 Big Mick R.I.P. by Off The Post on Mixcloud While the rest of the world is still whipped up
into a frenzy about all things Liverpool, the OTP Pod tip-toes around the big issues and asks some
truly pertinent questions: how can we replace the controversy-causing handshakes at the start of
Premier League matches?
Changing Future Roles In Response To The Silva Footballing Age - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
If there was a certain area in which Manchester City beat Manchester United so assuredly last
weekend, in one of the massive premier league results of recent times, it was the wings.
Where Ashley Young and Nani played the typical winger role, taking on Manchester City's
fullbacks, trying to win those one on one battles, Manchester City's wingers, James Milner and
David Silva, made a point of winning the game elsewhere certainly their involvement in the vital
goals that pushed the Sky Blues clear of United was a mastery of movement rather then setting out
to burn fullbacks.
Why Spurs and Arsenal have provided an abject lesson in how NOT to use the transfer
window
Amid the smouldering remains of the Premier League hopes of Tottenham and Arsenal, a lesson has
been learned in the boardrooms of White Hart Lane and The Emirates. That would be how and how not
to use the transfer window .
Two Sami Nasri goals were enough to send Arsenal top of the Premier League as Arsenal beat
Fulham 2-1. That win combined with Chelsea‘s draw with Everton and the Manchester United v
Blackpool postponement meant that Arsenal now have a one point lead at the top of the table.
After two home loses in November, it was imperative that Arsenal grabbled all three points from
this game and the Gunners got a perfect start when Nasri scored after 14 minutes.
Two Sami Nasri goals were enough to send Arsenal top of the Premier League as Arsenal beat
Fulham 2-1. That win combined with Chelsea‘s draw with Everton and the Manchester United v
Blackpool postponement meant that Arsenal now have a one point lead at the top of the table.
After two home loses in November, it was imperative that Arsenal grabbled all three points from
this game and the Gunners got a perfect start when Nasri scored after 14 minutes.
Arsene Wenger has never been a great tactician, but tonight his bizarre decision killed us from
the start.
The boss was looking, as we all were, at the state of the San Siro pitch. The wings looked
deliberately battered to give us a hard time in one of our stronger positions. We've played on some
bad pitches before, but this was something different altogether.
What is the difference between a dive and a flop? In part two of our series ("Fall of the
Superman") PF will discuss the art of the dive, which we defined as any airborne maneuvers employed
by a player (such as Emmanuel Eboue's tongue extension in the Champions League Final four years
ago). The ensuing "flop" is the second movement to this ballet whereas the magic of flight is
ruptured by contact with earth.
Bottom of the league and calling for the managers head. Devastating depression is what springs to
mind flicking through the posts on the Rovers forums. With protests planned before and after the
game, some reckon it could get dicey around the stadium should Blackburn suffer a heavy defeat,
with some predicting carnage on and off the pitch.
Apologies for the tardiness – busy times at AANP Towers. While it would have been nice to add
my tuppence worth to the wave of euphoria in the 24 hours immediately after the Arse was spanked,
the delay perhaps allows for a more circumspect few musings.
AANP is classifying it a game of one half and two quarters.
This transfer window has involved extreme amounts of rumors. And Capernicus was apparently
wrong, as the whole world revolved and devolved around Cesc.
Now that it's over, we can check the tally and assess the carnage most of which involve Luka
Modric's hopes and dreams and his sense of happy, which is unhappy.
Brilliant quote from an article in The Guardian that needs preserving and repeating :
"I don't have a phobia about Tories. That would suggest an irrational response. I hate them for a
reason. For lots of reasons, actually. For the miners, apartheid, Bobby Sands, Greenham Common,
selling council houses, Section 28, lining the pockets of the rich and hammering the poor – to
name but a few.
You may have lost faith in the magazine spread in recent weeks. This is understandable. After
Marouane Chamakh's bowler hat abomination and Mesut Ozil's clown shoes carnage, who could blame
you?
Fortunately we are in a position to fully restore your faith in the footie player photo shoot
with these images of Bojan Krkic that are currently doing the rounds.
It is wonderful to see Fernando Torres scoring goals again, as I'm sure Liverpool fans will
agree, and that's what we got to see yesterday as La Roja managed a convincing win over
Liechtenstein for their first qualifying match for Euro 2012.
[caption id="attachment_1141" align="aligncenter" width="610" caption="What a Deadly Duo they make.
Sometimes, life just isn't fair. Imagine for a moment that you are Liechtenstein. You're all
revved up for your first Euro 2012 qualifying match, and feeling confident. Sure, you've taken some
beatings, but remember in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, you beat both Latvia and Iceland. Not too
shabby for a little guy.
Yesterday Brazil played like two teams fused together: a physical, European-style rearguard of
six formed a solid base from which their samba stars took Chile apart. Crucially (England, France
and Italy take note), every man knew his role in a clearly defined system of play.
With England's loose 4-4-2 and the hastily assembled 4-3-3 formations of Il Azzurri and Les
Bleus, the players looked like they knew their starting shape but became amorphous as play became
stretched.
After Schalke's defeat against Bayern Munich last week, the perfect restorative would have been a
trip to lowly Hannover 96. Indeed, as I pointed out in the Bundesbag Preview, if Felix Magath's
team did could not beat the 96ers then they did not deserve to win the Bundesliga. Well, guess
what? They lost.
It's been a tremendously disappointing season for Fiorentina as they languish near the bottom
of the table and during a match between relegation certainty Novara, it got much, much worse. Adem
Ljajic was prematurely subbed out of the match two minutes after Novara went up 2-0 at the
half-hour mark and as he made his way to the bench, he sarcastically applauded and gave a thumbs up
to manager Delio Rossi.
In the same way that a classroom descends into carnage when a teacher leaves the room for any
extended period, the Tottenham dressing room has become a violent and confusing place while Harry
Redknapp is away attending to his legal affairs. Yesterday, Spurs winger Danny Rose posted a video
on his Twitter showcasing teammate Sandro's full range of high kicks and martial arts poses.
On the day Home United travel to Tampines Stadium to battle it out for the SLeague title I can
reveal plans for widespread football hooliganism that could bring chaos to public transport and
even see houses prices fall. A Singaporean double whammy.
While thousands of Home United fans are expected to make the journey east by bus and MRT hard
core Tampines hooligans are planning to give them a hot reception at various points in their
journey.
Gasperini lastest victim of "Mourinho's Curse" - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
With Gian Piero Gasperini's dismissal as Inter Milan manager, the Mourinho's Curse has claimed
it's latest victim. Since his appointment at FC Porto, full-time successors have struggled to cope
with the expectations of a Mourinho coached side.
Tonight the New England Revolution will get set to take on the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park in
Chester, Pennsylvania. The Revs are coming off a 17-day break following the postponement of this
fixture due to Hurricane Irene two weekends past, while the Union are coming off back-to-back
league losses to Salt Lake and Columbus.
I think I've got post-traumatic stress disorder. I keep getting these weird flashbacks. Like,
I'm going along normally, minding my own business and then it's:
MUST BUY LEFT BACK!
Not so good when you're in the supermarket, frantically searching the vegetable section for a
suitable candidate.
A slumbering summer appears to be slowly stirring from its sleep; stretching, yawning and having
a good old scratch of its knackers before assessing the carnage ahead. Though there have been no
confirmed incomings or "don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way outgoings", the cogs
appear to be creaking into action.
I know it's thoroughly distressing, though tempered somewhat by how much easier it makes things
in a way, to lose to the Sporks last night in Aggieland in the US Open Cup qualifier, but at least
this Sunday the Houston Dynamo will get to face an opponent that's at least a little
shorthanded.
Ian of the always relevant twohundredpercent—whose one-off media posts often make this blog
cringe with embarrassment at its own output exclusively on the subject—already spoke well to this
topic today so I won't add too much, except of course my own usual rambling take on things.
I don't want to argue shades-of-gray legal issues with regard to illegal feed farms.
Considering little baby Benji made an appearance on the football pitch before his umbilical cord
had been cut, it's not surprising to see him in this adorable video with his papa skillfully
dribbling a football around their home. Question: What happens if Ben decides he wants to become a
rubgy player?
Rajon Rondo is having a fantastic season for the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately for Rondo and the
Celtics, the point guard is finding it difficult to stay healthy. Rondo's latest injury is a
sprained left ankle that will keep him out a while. GM Danny Ainge says Rondo will be out a couple
of weeks, while head coach Doc Rivers said one or two weeks.
So, don't worry I doubt we'll see any carnage of Roy Keane-magnitude in tomorrow's matchup. All
the blood has been spilled on the club's finance books. None shall be spilled on the field. And I
spill the beans at the ever excellent Dirty Tackle (did you get the video reference? Ha-HA) on why
this clasico may be our last.
Just another standard Tottenham game then. There ought to be some sort of internet tool or
iPhone app that takes regular football phenomena and instantly turns them into the
all-action-no-plot, Tottenham Hotspur equivalent. Take a dour goalless draw in Italy (
la Liverpool against Napoli last night), give it the Tottenham treatment and hey presto –
you have yourself a mental 4-3 defeat.
If you're going to sell your soul it had better be worth it. Wolves got nothing, deserved
less, and hopefully will have much to ponder on what we must hope is a long, slow journey home.
If your entire game plan can be summed up by the words 'persistent fouling' then something's
missing. There was nothing to admire in anything they did today and I hope they get
relegated.
