What do Arsenal need this Summer to be title contenders by CJ
Arsenal are 18 points behind Man Utd and 5 points behind Man City, however both teams have a game in hand on us so the question is realistically how far, in footballing terms, we are behind Man Utd and Man City.
Last week's game against Man Utd showed us that this current group of players under this current manager have the desire and the quality to compete with very best but don't have the required mentality that's needed to win a major championship.
Joe Hart believes that Manchester United will once again be the toughest contenders for his
Manchester City side's Premier League crown.
Hart and City won the 2011-12 title dramatically on goal difference but the England goalkeeper
admits that the famous triumph was too nerve-wrecking.
While the 25-year old is ready to fight for a successful title defense, he is aware that City
will be once again be challenged seriously by their bitter cross-town rivals.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 17, 2012) US Soccer Players – For those of you who aren't
fans of the regular revolving contenders in England's Premier League, there's some good news for
2012-13. Though the dueling Manchesters will almost assuredly be competing for the title, the
London contingent might not have done enough.
One of the toughest challenges in football is the race to win promotion to the Premier League
from The Championship. The rewards for just one season in the top flight are reported to be worth
in excess of £100 million, thus, it is understandable why each of the 23 teams in the second tier
want to get out!
Newcastle United could be set to land the summer's biggest loan swoop of the summer as they have
reportedly made an offer to bring Liverpool's Andy Carroll back to the northeast. ESPN is
reporting that the Magpies are interested in a season-long loan deal for the striker that they sold
in 2011.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo acknowledges that leading the Blues to a famous FA Cup and
UEFA Champions League double as interim boss last season has created additional pressure for next
season but has played down any impact it may have.
Di Matteo notably retained his composure following the team's accomplishment of European glory
in May and even after becoming Chelsea's permanent manager, the Italian went about business as
usual.
This article titled "BSkyB and ESPN lead field for Premier League auction of live UK TV rights"
was written by Mark Sweney, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 7th June 2012 12.53 UTC
The Premier League's £2bn-plus auction of live UK television rights draws to a close on Friday,
with a field of potential bidders including al-Jazeera, Google and Channel 4 understood to have
dramatically thinned.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp says that the club is waiting to offer him a new deal, despite
the Premier League veteran having only a year left on his contract. Redknapp has been sensational
since taking the White Hart Lane hot seat, having turned the Spurs into one of the Premier League's
giants and annual top-four contenders.
Roberto Di Matteo has left Stamford Bridge. Who will take over from him as Chelsea manager? OTP looks at some of the serious (and not so serious contenders). 1. Pep Guardiola Manchester City have been plumping up the Barcelona-themed cushions and waiting for a good reason to give Roberto Mancini the shove.
Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two best teams in the world (at least in the eyes of some) will
once again head into a Spanish Primera Division season as the clear-cut favorites and opponents
ready to turn La Liga into their own punching bag.
There is little mystery as to which teams will be dominating the Spanish League yet again.
The Norwich boss Chris Hughton is getting ready to face Arsenal this evening at Carrow Road, and after conceding nine goals in their last two games, he is well aware that his team have a mountain to climb to try and get anything from Arsene Wenger's team who are unbeaten on the road this season.
Hughton is certainly full of praise for Wenger and is extremely impressed with his success no matter who is playing on the pitch.
This Arsenal team started off fantastically after a draw at the Britannia. Games were won at Anfield against Liverpool as well as demolition of newly promoted Southampton at the Emirates. However, they weren't really a test of what this side could do.
If I'm going to be honest, this has to be my least favourite fixture of the season; I always get
so nervous. Whenever we play another of the contenders, especially away, I feel as if anything less
than 3 points is acceptable, and that we can forgive the team for losing at Old Trafford or
Stamford Bridge.
The first thing to know about the Sagna Conundrum is that it does not involve Bacary Sagna.
The Sagna Conundrum is a problem created not by his presence, but by his absence, and it comes
down to this: when our super-consistent French right back is not available, who should take his
place?
The first thing to know about the Sagna Conundrum is that it does not involve Bacary Sagna.
The Sagna Conundrum is a problem created not by his presence, but by his absence, and it comes
down to this: when our super-consistent French right back is not available, who should take his
place?
After another strong month, Sporting Kansas City sit atop the MLS Eastern Conference standings
and are just three points off the pace for the Supporters' Shield. That's not all that the club was
able to accomplish in August, though.Â
A 3-0-1 record in MLS play coupled with the second U.
Real Salt Lake hope that home-field advantage will change the club's CONCACAF Champions League
fortunes, as the 2010-11 tournament finalists look to bounce back after dropping their group
opener.
RSL welcome Panamanian side Tauro FC to Rio Tinto Stadium for a key Group 2 battle (10 p.
Although it might have been Labor Day Weekend around America, MLS teams were putting in plenty of
hard work to secure Playoff Spots heading into the post season. Let's take a look back and enjoy
the action across the league as the post season contenders and post season pretenders are becoming
clearer each game.
With Saer Sene out for Saturday's match, the Revolution will need Ryan Guy to help add spark to
the attack. (Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
History is on the line at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. But, unfortunately for the hosts, it's
not the kind of history they're terribly anxious to achieve.
The Columbus Crew have propelled themselves into the Eastern Conference playoff race on the
strength of a pair of victories this past week, and no player was more important in securing those
victories than Federico Higuain.
The Argentine newcomer was instrumental in last Wednesday's 2-1 win vs.
The summer MLS transfer window has been marked by some serious acquisitions, with Designated
Players like Houston's Oscar Boniek Garcia, Vancouver's Barry Robson and Kenny Miller, Montreal's
Marco Di Vaio, New England's Jerry Bengtson, Chicago's Sherjill MacDonald and New York's Tim Cahill
among the new crop of stars joining the league.
By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (June 20, 2012) US Soccer Players -- For the longest time, you
couldn't talk about former New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol without mentioning his top
assistant, Paul Mariner. It was Nicol that made the Revolution the annual contenders that they
were, pushing for an MLS Cup title year-after-year, nearly winning one on a handful of occasions,
and consistently finishing near the top of the League standings.
By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 27, 2012) US Soccer Players – Call it the pull towards
mediocrity. Major League Soccer's odd version of parity is once again calling good teams into
question while making sure there's no gap at the top of the table. With the top three even on games
played, there's five points between first and third.
Aged 16 years and 98 days, Málaga forward Fabrice Olinga became the youngest scorer in Liga
history as his late goal earned the Champions League play-off contenders a 1-0 victory at promoted
RCelta de Vigo.
The second-half substitute made an immediate impact, first hitting the woodwork with a stinging
effort and then bundling the ball in off his thigh for an 84th-minute winner, thereby eclipsing
Iker Muniain's 2009 record by 191 days.
Similar to La Liga and Premier League, Bundesliga sees itself going into 2012 with two prime
contenders, and then what looks like a strong competition for third place. For the top German
league, last year's top two finishers will go into this season expecting to end that way again this
year.
Put pure and simply, this will be a battle. Don't expect anything like pretty soccer pass and
move. Who wants this more is the more likely to win today's match. Going into the tournament, both
teams didn't have the same expectations as they would usually do.
After showing signs against England that they could be real contenders for Euro 2012, France
went out with an almighty whimper against Spain on Saturday night.
Laurent Blanc started with right-back Mathieu Debuchy on the right side of midfield (with
Anthony Reveillere talking the gifted full-back's place in defence), a tactical decision that told
us all we needed to know about how Les Bleus would approach this fixture.
Roy Hodgson now dares to dream that England are genuine contenders to win Euro 2012, and who can
blame him?
Now assured of a place in the last eight of the showpiece summer tournament in Poland and Ukraine,
courtesy of a 1-0 win against co-hosts Ukraine, thanks to a header from the recalled Wayne Rooney,
and the Three Lions have to be taken seriously.
The Group of Shocks Russia go from contenders to casulaties as Greece & Czechs celebrate
http://t.co/ylhmJ0e3 #Euro2012 #football - Get your Euro 2012 Group d!
Group C Spain
If my predictions are anything to go by last time around, get involved. I predicted a Spain win and
Senna player of the tournament as well as having Villa e/w as top scorer. Not so sure on La Furia
Rosa this time mind. Spain are the bookies faves and I think a repeat of the final from 2008 could
well be on the cards but despite that win and the other funny looking gold cup, they still have
that pony midfield: Fab, Biscuits, Mata, Silva, Alonso, Iniesta, Xavi, Carzorla and Speedy Jesus Of
Navas, that doesn't bode well.
Euro 2012 kicks off on Friday, with Poland playing Greece and Russia facing the Czech Republic
in the opening matches of the highly anticipated tournament.
None of the four are favored to be crowned European champions, though, as that distinction
largely belongs to defending European and World Cup champion Spain and prime contenders Germany and
Netherlands, while France is also a popular selection to complete a return to glory.
With no Puyol, the heart of Spain's defence is missing. Regardless of this Spain's weakness is
their defence and this is no secret. The most notable weakness is the left back position, Arbeloa
at left back will struggle to compete with Europe's best right wingers.
After a disappointing summer transfer window for the Serie A, looking around at the possible
contenders for the scudetto, it's evident that this season's race will have a few surprises in
store. Teams like AC Milan, have lost many key players and weren't able to replace them properly,
and others like Juventus and Inter just weren't able to clinch that world class player signing
which could've helped set them definitively above the rest.
We've been pointing out for a couple weeks that it would take some real work for the roster of
playoff teams to be shaken up from the 10 teams who've held the projected playoff spots for some
time. Part of that work would be an extended run of bad play from the teams closest to the edge:
the Vancouver Whitecaps in the West and DC United in the East.
Problems? I see no problems. The JimmyG2 Column The positivity generated by our loss on Saturday is
almost overwhelming. Not so much waves as a Tsunami of hopeful expectancy such as we rarely see
after a defeat. New manager, new Tottenham, new spirit amongst the fans. No more Mr. Moody Fickle
guy.
Genoa have emerged as contenders to sign Liverpool target Juan Manuel Vargas, according to Italian
newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Vargas, 28, has been made available for transfer by his club Fiorentina, and Liverpool boss Brendan
Rodgers has been tipped to make an offer for the Peru international, who can play in defence and
midfield.
Founded in 1991, the Welsh Premier League has always had something of a turbulent run. Attendances
have never been high, media interest has been negligible previous champions and powerhouses or just
mere contenders have failed to live with stringent financial constraints, causing them to fall out
the league or in the case of once contenders [.
This piece by Chandrima Chatterjee. Find out how you can help the Bay Area Street
Soccer USA team here.
There's less than two weeks until the 2012 Street Soccer USA National Cup in NYC, yet there's
one team that's been quietly yet diligently working away at practices, fundraisers and program
building over the past few years and they are contenders both for the Cup and for the hearts of
fans.
By Dario Camacho - MIAMI, FL (July 6, 2012) US Soccer Players -- A few weeks ago, I wrote about
Real Salt Lake's rise to the top of the Major League Soccer standings. Finally, a team that seemed
ahead of the pack, demonstrating skill, proving their worth to be the true contenders for the
Supporters Shield and MLS Cup.
