Wolves 1 (Craddock 89) Arsenal 4 (Zubar og 28, Craddock og 36, Fabregas 45, Arshavin 66)
(Premiership)

Moving house and blogging is a tricky combination. Phone companies tend to ensure that you haven't got a hope of getting online during the first few weeks in the new place, and trying to write anything meaningful from a mobile is nigh on impossible.

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Things are heating up in Nigeria as the U-17 World Cup enters the quarter finals stage with games being played on the 8th and 9th of November. Champions Nigeria who are the sole remaining African representatives in the tournament will be looking to retain the title they won in 2007 and add on to the one that their fellow compatriots Ghana won in the u-20 world cup earlier last month.

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If you go by what has been written and said about Glen Johnson over the past few months, then you probably wouldn't have a very good opinion about the right-back.
Not good enough defensively, prone to lapses in concentration that leave him as well as his fellow defenders exposed, he is England's weak link and it was madness for Benitez to pay so much (whatever that 'much' is) for him. Click to continue reading...

Some common themes developing in the post-match interview - concentration and the lack of ability to close games out in particular:

"First half we never really imposed ourselves as I know we can and conceded two poor goals. But then we picked ourselves up and showed some of the qualities I expected from the start.

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Liverpool will feel that they should have won the game at the Stage Gerland against Olympique Lyonnais, as they dominated for the most part, but crucially lost their concentration towards the end. Ryan Babel scored a scorcher from 25 yards with a little over five minutes to go, giving the Merseysiders a great chance of walking [. Click to continue reading...

An adage in coaching i used to hear often about any manger who's team began to falter after a good season was "He became dumb over night" Referring to a coach or manager who led a side to great results one year but followed it up with disastrous results the following year. Many may be thinking this about Marco Giampaolo who only a few weeks ago received a ringing endorsement from Don Fabio Cappello. Click to continue reading...

After a very impressive start to the season, the recent three game winless run (although undefeated) has brought one or two frustrations from fans to the fore.
None moreso than the continued form of Micah Richards.
As rapid as his ascent was, coming into the side as a teenager and marking a first team spot as his own before catapulting himself into the international fold, his subsequent decline has been anything but. Click to continue reading...

Perhaps trying to dampen some of the criticism aimed at him - particularly in the wake of Sunday's drawagainst Fulham, Mark Hughes has offered support for big money signing Joleon Lescott:

"You have to understand, though, that this is a new back four and the more games Joleon and Kolo [Touré] play together the better they will gel as a pair.

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I won't write what I wanted to write after watching the Kansas City game, because the more I kicked it around, it was a trite and cliche angle. The game was exciting, and the team fought as hard as they could (in the second half). Reckless desperation is always pretty fun to watch, but as DCUMD noted, a lack of defensive concentration (which is not a skill but an effort) ended our season.

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West Ham 2-2 Arsenal

There are draws that seem like wins, and there are draws that seem like defeats. Today's was both depending which team you support.

Deeply frustrating if you're an Arsenal fan though. Coming back from two goals up might be a theme of the weekend, but it doesn't make it any less infuriating, does it?

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declared his side were superior to AZ Alkmaar in yesterday's Group H Champions League game and only failed to win for losing concentration in the dying minutes of the game. Speaking after ... Click to continue reading...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declared his side were superior to AZ Alkmaar in yesterday's Group H Champions League game and only failed to win for losing concentration in the dying minutes of the game. Speaking after ...

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I have to say that the Gunners looked like they took their foot of the accelerator most of the second half. In total they possessed the ball just 47% of the time, a statistic that is unlike them. Fabregas did not look sharp and Song looked lackadaisical. The team was missing its characteristic fluid passing style.

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Quarter final first legs tonight. Favourites Selangor take on Terengganu at the Shah Alam Stadium and in my humble opinion could be in for a hard night. And that piece of wisdom is based on 90 minutes watching the team known as the Turtles beat Johor 4-2 earlier in the month. Their assistant coach Mohamad Nik is warning them against losing concentration. Click to continue reading...

Another away match, another defeat. Overall, in losing to a good Aston Villa side, Chelsea didn't actually put in a bad performance. But errors both in defence and attack, and a worrying lack of leadership from Ancelotti, were enough to get me concerned.
Even in deserved defeat, there were some positives.

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Another away match, another defeat. Overall, in losing to a good Aston Villa side, Chelsea didn't actually put in a bad performance. But errors both in defence and attack, and a worrying lack of leadership from Ancelotti, were enough to get me concerned.
Even in deserved defeat, there were some positives.

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It was a moment we will have probably forgotten in a year from now, but at the time, it felt like one of the worst moments of the decade.

The return of Carlos Tevez to Old Trafford had been built up beyond belief, with some sections of the press claiming he should be greeted warmly, whilst others recognised that he was deserving of the abuse he would receive.

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If everything goes as expected in the next two weeks, Toronto FC players will be packing their bags and heading home for 2009 while many of their rivals prepare for the playoffs. What happened this season? There was such promise back in spring but it quickly slid into mediocrity - all that was left was a look ahead to 2010. Click to continue reading...

Do excuse me while I momentarily don my England hat: this missive, from one of the souls frequently to be found loitering around AANP Towers, appeared on football365.com earlier today:

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Rio's concentration lapse, the curious manner in which Green was sent off, the withdrawal of Lennon and the fact that we lost, it strikes me as far more useful than if we'd played with 11 and coasted to a comfy victory.

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Tudo bem, people?! Welcome to Day 1 of the Selecao bootcamp.... a staple here at Futbolita. And in true spirit, we just did a thorough assessment of the selecao's arrival at Granja Comary with our Brazilian amiga here, Ana.

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First of all apologies for the lack of posts in the last two days. It is not because I've been stuck on topics to write about. There are two reasons.� A post this week will explain one reason� why I didn't write anything since the end of September.

I did try posting something yesterday, it was going to be mainly images.

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Bendtner, 21, careered off the road and ploughed through a fence before smashing into a tree and coming to a stop in a field. A motorist who saw Sunday morning's crash on the A1(M) near South Mimms, Herts, said: "The car wasn't going especially fast but careered off the road. The driver must have lost his concentration for a moment. Click to continue reading...

Both this year and last much has been said about the age of Chelsea's squad and how it will hinder the club's charge for the title. Having kept detailed stats – on both the team's performance and for individual players – since the Premier League began back in August I decided to take a look back� at the records for the� season so far to see what, if anything, they told us about the impact of an ageing squad.

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Both this year and last much has been said about the age of Chelsea's squad and how it will hinder the club's charge for the title. Having kept detailed stats – on both the team's performance and for individual players – since the Premier League began back in August I decided to take a look back� at the records for the� season so far to see what, if anything, they told us about the impact of an ageing squad.

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Ben Foster had a nightmare during the derby and sections of the press claimed he was going to be dropped for our next Premiership game.

Ferguson rightly stuck by Foster though and the keeper picked up a clean sheet in our 2-0 victory over Stoke. Foster didn't have a lot to do but looked more composed and confident than the weekend before.

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After seven games, things all look very rosy. I certainly would have taken 15pts and 4th place in the table at this stage if you had asked me at the start of the season. We can't stop scoring and our only defeats have been to arguably the best two sides in the country. We are certainly improving and very much going the right way under Harry but for me there are still five teams in the league that are better than us and I don't see what we can do about that.

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Over the past few years Rio Ferdinand and Jamie Carragher have consistently been in the top 5 central defenders in the Premier League. In fact, I make Rio the best bar none for the past 5 years. I watched two games this weekend and Ferdinand and Carragher both looked as though the landlord was getting ready to call time at the bar.

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The majestic awesomeness of the Champions League theme song is something we have all long been aware of, but AC Milan have gone beyond mere appreciation and actually had the genius stroke to harness its untold powers to help them in their domestic campaign.

Having realized that their form in their Champions League has often been better than their form in Serie A in recent years, the club's vice president Adriano Galliani decided to have the team listen to the song before Sunday's game against Bologna.

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Turkish national team had a disastrous score against Bosnia on an away game and lost its chances (I think) to qualify for World Cup 2010.
The team started well, but couldn't sustain its calmness during the game. As a result, they ended up losing their concentration and tactical discipline. Click to continue reading...

No-one could argue that on the balance of play over the course of the game that we deserved a point, but having hauled ourselves back into the game on three seperate occasions, it is galling to say the least to come away empty handed and the sense of frustration will definitely take time to subside.
Much has already been written about the amount of injury time that was played, and yes it did appear excessive, but to play devils advocate a little here, it did also allow ourselves the opportunity to grab a winner. Click to continue reading...

We are more Jekyll and Hyde than the Doctor himself and I swear a few more of Arsene Wenger's hair strands visibly turned grey before my very eyes in the first five minutes tonight.
Have you ever seen that programme Stressed Eric? It's that cartoon about a middle-aged Englishman who gets very stressed out and his vein strangles him when he loses the plot. Click to continue reading...

After County's 2-2 draw with Yeovil on Saturday Baker went over to the County fans to receive a card after the death of his older brother Micheal.

I have taken the best bits out of it to see the full article click here (Read Full) I just had to share this story with you, if you do click the read full link then makesure you read the comments written by worldwide fans.

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England warmed up for their World Cup qualifying clash with Croatia with a comfortable, if somewhat uninspiring, 2-1 win over Slovenia on Saturday, and Steven Gerrard is well aware that they must improve if they are to seal their place in South Africa at Wembley on Wednesday night.
The Liverpool man is delighted that the Three Lions have developed a winning habit under Fabio Capello's astute management, but knows that England will have to be at their very best against the Croats, who have enough quality to fully exploit any lapse in concentration. Click to continue reading...

Ok, we got the season underway and ground out a win, posting a 4-3 victory.

We went 3-0 up, then 4-1 and died a little in the last few minutes of the game and gave up a tap in and a penalty.

Most importantly, we notched our first win of the season and we are very grateful.

We looked fantastic for about 70% of the game.

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. Birmingham City almost achieved a commendable result at White Hart Lane, but let their concentration drop slightly when the game was deep into stoppage time, thereby allowing Aaron Lennon to score and maintain the Lilywhites' 100 per cent record in the Premier League. spurs were the dominant force in the first half and were unlucky to [. Click to continue reading...