The transfer window report from business advisory firm Deloitte calculates that Premier League
clubs spent around £60m, a decline of 70 per cent on the record level of £225m in January 2011
(admittedly something of an aberration).
Dan Jones, a partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, saw Uefa's financial fair play
rules as a factor in the comparative restraint of clubs and a more sober level of spending among
Premier League clubs.
It happens to the best of us.
Well, not us personally, but it does occur nonetheless.
The gradual decline of attractiveness is a peculiar one, and we have to admit we've felt it
happening to one of our former beloved 'ballers, Wayne Bridge.
Sure, his career has been nothing short of sinking ship, playing for three teams in as many
years since parting ways with Chelsea FC.
Arsene Wenger is on the brink of becoming the longest serving manager in Arsenal's 125 year
history not to have won a trophy, we can reveal.
History shows that assuming we do not win anything this season which given our current form and
the general malaise about the club seems unlikely (at this point I offer a disclaimer should we win
both the FA Cup and the Champions League) - on Sunday July 5, 2012, we will have gone seven years
and 76 days without winning a trophy.
Arsene Wenger is on the brink of becoming the longest serving manager in Arsenal's 125 year
history not to have won a trophy, we can reveal.
History shows that assuming we do not win anything this season which given our current form and
the general malaise about the club seems unlikely (at this point I offer a disclaimer should we win
both the FA Cup and the Chamnpions League) - on Sunday July 5, 2012, we will have gone seven
years and 76 days without winning a trophy.
Football's a simple game. If you score more or concede less than the other side, you win the match.
So I thought it would be worth taking a look at which teams have been doing better than their
opponents. The simplest way of doing just that is to calculate differentials for the stuff that
matters most - goals - and the stuff without which - shots - the stuff that matters most usually
doesn't happen.
Wilman Conde is back in MLS with the Red Bulls. (Getty Images)
This news had been around for some time. The New York Red Bulls and the Chicago Fire finally
made it official today though. Wilman Conde is finally going to the Big Apple.
The fun part about this deal however is that it is really a few years too late.
With the pressure and excitement of each and every week's matches, it's sometimes easy to lose the
overall plot of how a season has evolved in the league as a whole. Since we are just past the
halfway point of the season, I thought I'd take a look at a couple of trends in teams' output in
the Premier League this season.
For the last few months if speculation has been made over where Arsenal should make a signing in
January it's been in the striking position.
Beyond Robin van Persie we have few options. Or, to put it another way, we have options which no
longer produce goals or which the manager clearly has little faith in.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
Chisnall beats Taylor, Arsenal beat Liverpool and Sampras loses to Federer: defeats that
defined the end of an era
Sometimes it can seem as if success is never ending, but a single defeat can prove the catalyst
for decline
View the full story here: Talksport
A news article on 2011-12-28 19:02:42 from: Talksport
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
ProsSo, the first pro is fairly obvious - hilarity. It's always funny to watch United lose, especially
in Europe where Fergie's ability to influence referees is less pronounced. The fact that they were
served up one of the easiest CL groups I can remember makes it even funnier.
In a sport where players are increasingly deified, Fernando Torres was a God-like figure at
Liverpool; the fans worshipped the ground he walked on, and in the eyes of his fawning disciples,
he could no wrong. That all changed when El Nino left for Chelsea - he instantly became a traitor;
an Anfield Judas, worthy of nothing but contempt and ridicule.
Ahead of Wednesday night's League Cup game against Crystal Palace, Sir Alex Ferguson has
confirmed that we will be playing a young side like usual.
Palace are currently 10th in the Championship and managed to beat Southampton, who are top of
the table, in the competition last month.
Ferguson is putting his faith in youth though and singles out Paul Pogba as a player who might
start.
I always stated that the decline of the Saudi football was never because of lack of talents but
because those talents don't get enough attention to develop and polish their skills. Also, because
of lack of the team plays and discipline in general.
Here is one new promising star named Salem Al-Dosari from Hilal, he is 19 years old only, and just
up to last January he was not playing for any team, he was a player in "Hawari", that is district
teams.
One of the ploys David Stern has liked to use during the NBA lockout is blaming the agents.
Stern knows that nobody likes agent. If the NBA commissioner blames the agents, the public won't
have any problem with that. It's a smart idea.
"By some combination of mendacity and greed," explains Stern, "the agents who are looking out
for themselves rather than their clients are trying to scuttle the deal.
Togetherness
With the international break well and truly here, I guess now is as good a time to reflect back
on how the team has performed this season compared to last season. The easiest to do that is to
compare like for like. The matches that have been played this season versus the corresponding
fixtures last season.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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Sign the petition to make sure YOU are not helping fund Tottenham's new stadium
—————————————–
By Ref Reviewer 02
For the game between Manchester United and Sunderland we had ref Mason [.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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Sign the petition to make sure YOU are not helping fund Tottenham's new stadium
By Tony Attwood
If you don't live in the UK you might not know that this country is awash with [.
"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
—————————————–
Sign the petition to make sure YOU are not helping fund Tottenham's new stadium
—————————————–
By Ref Reviewer 03
Chelsea's new manager, Andre Villas-Boas, felt hard done by Chris Foy's performance in this
match, [.
"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 11
By Dale Higginbottom
Onto Gameweek 11 and we're now (as Walter has confirmed) doing better game-by-game than last
season.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
—————————————–
Sign the petition to make sure YOU are not helping fund Tottenham's new stadium
By Walter Broeckx
As promised I will try to give you some insight on how [.
"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
By Ref Reviewer 04
Just as last year we had ref Oliver for the game Arsenal – WBA at the Emirates. Last year a
top score despite Arsenal losing. How did he do this season?
Min Type Foul from [.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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By Tony Attwood
That headline tells you the bad news. The good news is that the reserves beat Fulham 2-0 in a
behind closed doors game.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
—————————————–
Thank You David Moyes, And Welcome The Wise Old Head
Mike Urbanski
Yes, thank you, David Moyes.
"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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By Walter Broeckx
This weekend we have been playing our 11th game in the EPL of the current season. We now have
another international break and so again we face some 14 days in fear of [.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
—————————————–
By Walter Broeckx
In the last weeks I have tried to shed a first light on the scores of the refs and I have done
this by focussing on the Total average score the [.
"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
By Tony Attwood
During the summer when it was unclear to us mere mortals if Arsenal would get the transfers the
club wanted, there was much comment among the blogworld to the effect that the supposed failure to
[.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
—————————————–
By Ref Reviewer 04
For the game between Liverpool and Norwich we had ref Walton in charge.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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By Ref Reviewer 04
We had ref Halsey at Goodison Park for the game Everton – Manchester United.
"Making the Arsenal" the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
By Walter Broeckx
In this article I am thinking about the not given goal from Bolton against Chelsea when the ball
clearly passed the line but nothing was given.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 10: Arsenal injuries fall (a little bit)
By Dale Higginbottom
At the strong risk of jinxing it again ahead of a Champions League group game, I have gone with
the [.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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By Ref Reviewer 03
Ref Taylor did Manchester City – Aston Villa. Lets see how he did.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
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MANNA FOR CONSPIRACY THEORISTS
By Don McMahon
I recently and most regrettably came upon an article in the FootballTalk website entitled; ¨
Arsène Wenger Is Disrespectful To The Fans ¨ basing [.
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"Making the Arsenal" – the book of Arsenal's decline and rebirth Untold Arsenal on Twitter
@UntoldArsenal
by Billy le chien
I do like to keep the occasional eye on French football, particularly our loan player, ex-player
and indeed the surrogate Man City that Paris St Germain has become.
There's not much more that needs to be said about Arsenal's memorable 5-3 win over Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge yesterday. I could repeat what everyone else has said about the entertainment and
sheer brilliance of Robin van Persie, but that would render me somewhat pointless.
So instead I'm going to focus on the performance of the player that interested me the most Andre
Santos, our new left-back.
Amid all the hoopla surrounding the Seattle Sounders' best-in-the-league offense, there has been
another somewhat underreported story: their defense has been pretty darn good, too. Just four teams
have allowed fewer than the Sounders' 36 goals and they are on pace to have a slightly better
defense than the one they had a year ago.
