Adopted Frenchman Joey Barton doubts whether former England skipper David Beckham can have the same earth-shattering impact that he has had on Ligue 1. The Marseille midfielder said that if Beckham did manage to play against his side for PSG he would probably not be the "main concern" for their defence.
Turbulent times then.
The arrival of a new boss, with new ideas and a new way of conveying them, and the departure of
three players who could have been major weapons in the battle for promotion.
So where now?
For Wolves to amass something in the region of £27 million for the sale of Fletcher, Jarvis and
Kightly is remarkable.
Chelsea retained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 4-2 victory over Reading last night.
But it was the Blues' third goal, scored when the match was level at 2-2, that will be playing on
Royals boss Brian McDermott's mind today. Fernando Torres was quite clearly offside as he tucked
the ball [.
You could almost hear the scream of frustration from Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini after
Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi said he is staying at Roma.
Despite signing a new contract last season that tied him to the Giallorossi until 2017, De
Rossi's agent was reported to have flown out for talks with City officials last week.
Today, we'll take a break from the series looking at each position within the team. Instead,
we've got a match concentrate on. While it's only a friendly, it does bring a lot of talking points
that merits discussions. The last of the known pre season friendly and it was a repeat of the same
visit to Cologne as we did in the previous pre season.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is hoping that introducing his strategy of pressing aggressive
football at Anfield will turn the stadium into a fortress for the Reds.
While Rodgers was at Swansea impressing the rest of the Premier League with his entertaining
brand of football, Liverpool struggled with a below-par home record, dropping many shocking points
en route to a disappointing eighth place finish.
I hope you're having a fine Monday because I'm not. I was earlier, but I'm not now. Probably
because it dawned upon a couple of minutes ago that today is going to be a pivotal of the season.
Because today is the day, we announced that Robin van Persie would be sold.
It's been a fraught and sometimes farcical week in Scottish football, as the authorities in the
SFA and SPL have been scrabbling desparately to find a solution to the Rangers problem, in the face
of staunch supporter opposition that they seem not to have anticipated. It culminated in
yesterday's SPL meeting, at which Rangers were, as expected, denied their application to transfer
their share to a new company.
New Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has joined teammate Lukas Podolski in praising the unique
philosophy that manager Arsene Wenger brings to the club.
Wenger was criticized heavily after the Gunners endured a poor start to the season and up until
February, when Arsenal were confirmed to be headed for another season without a trophy, there were
calls for the Frenchman to be sacked.
Football is back. Thank God for that. I've been having a difficult time motivating myself to get
on the internet in the last few weeks but it should all improve now. Hopefully the blog will also
be a bit more regular.
Three Gunners were involved on the opening day. Szczesny featured in the tournament opener for
the hosts but had an imminently forgettable outing.
Football is back. Thank God for that. I've been having a difficult time motivating myself to get
on the internet in the last few weeks but it should all improve now. Hopefully the blog will also
be a bit more regular.
Three Gunners were involved on the opening day. Szczesny featured in the tournament opener for
the hosts but had an imminently forgettable outing.
Almost all Arsenal fans are desperate for a DM. Why?
Well, because there is a collective belief that our defensive vulnerability stems from the lack
of a strong, disciplined DM. One can point to a number of goals conceded which have come as a
result of MF's being too far upfield, or too central, or too slow in back-tracking.
Almost all Arsenal fans are desperate for a DM. Why?
Well, because there is a collective belief that our defensive vulnerability stems from the lack
of a strong, disciplined DM. One can point to a number of goals conceded which have come as a
result of MF's being too far upfield, or too central, or too slow in back-tracking.
If Manchester United fans still had any doubts, a quick look at today's backpages will have
confirmed that we are well and truly in the silly seas, as far as transfer rumours are concerned.
Forget about Euro 2012, the Sun splashes an headline suggesting that United are about to add
another piece to their midfield [.
Now that I've done with the favourites (my own choice, at least) for Euro 2012, it's time to
look at those dark horses. Teams that I won't necessarily wage my house on but worth a small punt
if the prices are right. Teams that will go into the tournament without much chance of winning it
but could rise to the occasion and spring a surprise or two.
Ducky's Note: Seeing as how the Chelsea corner of this blog did a
midfield appraisal of their squad, the United corner feels compelled to respond in
kind. Thankfully, we have Aniruddha Raje doing just that, with a specific focus on
the man who suddenly has United fans trembling in their boots to 'face him two more times this
season', Moussa Dembélé.
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain is hoping his side can complete the signing of Tottenham
midfielder Luka Modric as quickly as possible ahead of the new season.
Modric has been linked with a host of Europe's top clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea
and PSG, but appears to be closing in on a switch to the current La Liga champions.
It's deadline day and expect another 12 hours of madness! One rumour that has literally come out of
the blue this morning is that Arsene Wenger is considering a bid to take Michael Essien to the
Arsenal!.
The thing is, as each season passes by and each transfer window comes and goes, you can get an idea
of the moves certain clubs will be making.
So what is your view on Michael Essien and where do you think he fits into RDM plans this season?.
Let's be honest, he has featured in pre season but since then has had to make do with a place on
the Chelsea bench alongside Oriol Romeu.
It's seems as though Mikel has grabbed the opportunity RDM gave him when he took over and now
remains selected week in, week out by RDM.
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.
New Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is confident his vision for the club will persuade his star
players to remain at Anfield.
Despite the Northern Irishman conceding that a lack of Champions League football could mean the
Reds lose players, he felt that the future he had envisioned for the Merseysiders would be enough
to soothe any doubts some may harbour.
Hey guys. Us here at The Arsenal Offside have done a bit of a prediction for the season ahead.
It was going to go up last week before the season actually started, but sadly I got distracted and
wrote about some guy who decided to do what some little boy told him to and moved to Manchester
United. What gives?
Arsenal was earmarked as potential dark horses in the title race before the loss of Robin van
Persie. Now without Van Persie, the hope for a title challenge has suddenly disappeared and has
been replaced with doubts of Champions League ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.
Just what are we to make of the various statements that have appeared in the press
lately?
First came the not so very surprising one from the want-away van Persie, the full text of which
can be found on the player's website. After spending most of his eight years at the club being
nurtured by Arsene Wenger and nursed by the medical staff he had a really good season and suddenly
discovered that he disagreed with the direction the management was taking.
Rankers in the SB Nation MLS Power Rankings still have doubts about the Seattle Sounders. They
are doubts that won't be answered by any singular win, or even a decent lossless streak. It will
take a run against a series of good teams. Maybe the August run of Galaxy, Sporting and Earthquakes
will be something to get that ever important * Power Rankings respect.
If there were any lingering doubts about the San Jose Earthquakes and their legitimacy as MLS
title contenders, those doubts were erased on Saturday night by a dominating performance against
the team closest to them in the standings.
Chris Wondolowski scored a hat-trick, bringing his total to a league-best 17, to lead the
Earthquakes to a 5-0 thrashing of Real Salt Lake at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose.
If you've ever doubted the lack of depth in MLS, the value of an MVP and DP, and the complete
superstar skills of David Ferreira... then the performance of FCD since El Torito's return should
have elimited those doubts. 80% says Hyndman, and DF's still the best there is.
The post What a Difference appeared first on 3rd Degree.
Soccer by Ives may have picked some English guy in Los Angeles to win the honor, but MLS had
other ideas, announcing today that Houston Dynamo forward/midfielder Calen Carr was voted MLS
Player of the Week.
What a fitting honor for a guy who is just back from injury, saw his team sign the excellent
Boniek Garcia as a DP to fill what had become his position and after recovering from concussion he
received in his Chicago Fire days, had serious doubts he might ever play again.
The U.S. Men's National Team moves a step closer to the start of World Cup qualifying tonight in
Toronto with a match against Canada (7pm, NBC Sports) that will serve as the final tune-up before
qualifying kicks off on Friday in Tampa.
The Americans will be looking to recover from last Wednesday's 4-1 loss to Brazil by beating a
team they haven't lost to since 1985.
Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas has revealed that his national team's unmatched confidence on and
off the pitch was not nearly as strong before Euro 2008.
Along with England, the Spaniards were considered to be an under-achieving football nation and
despite a plethora of talented players in their squad, Fabregas admits that Spain's players
doubting their credentials heading into that tournament four years ago.
So here we are again, another Euro 2012 match with this one pivotal in deciding the fate of the
trophy the second Semi-Final match, with Germany facing Italy. The winner of this match will of
course be heading through to a final against Spain, who overcome a valiant Portugal side last night
eventually winning on penalties.
Defending champions Spain start the Euro 2012 quarterfinals with a match against Group D
runner-up France. The match will take place at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, Ukraine with kickoff
scheduled for 20:45 local time.
Spain manager Vicente del Bosque
"Everybody thinks we're favourites because we won the EUROs four years ago and the World Cup two
years ago.
Christina and N'Bellia, our Spanish and French Futbolitas, share their thoughts ahead of tonight's
Euro 2012 Quarterfinal encounter between France and Spain. From Moulin Rouge dancers to reading
Moby Dick with Franck Ribery, there's no stopping these Futbolitas! SPANISH CRITICISM VS FRENCH
CONFIDENCE
FRENCH FUTBOLITA N'BELLIA : "We have been pretty enthusiastic over France's
performances in the Euro, everyone is still in a confident mood but I must say that the loss
against Sweden (0-2) raised many doubts.
Danny Califf was surprised by the Nowak departure but he thinks John Hackworth can turn things
around for the Union—if Hackworth is given the power he needs to do so.
"I was pretty well in shock and I was hoping that it would be John who would get a chance to
take over and run the team.
This article titled "Euro 2012: Fernando Torres calls time on Ireland as Spain's real No9″ was
written by Sid Lowe in Gdansk, for The Guardian on Thursday 14th June 2012 21.05 UTC
He was gone before Richard Dunne could even react. Before anyone could. Fernando Torres
accelerated past the Ireland centre-back, cruised beyond Stephen Ward and sent the ball screeching
into the top corner, taking all the doubts and the debates with it.
Defending Euro champions begin the 2012 tournament with a group stage match against Italy. The
match will take place at the Arena Gdansk in Gdansk, Poland with kickoff scheduled for 18:00 local
time.
Spain manager Vicente del Bosque
"In a group of four teams the first game is fundamental.
When I first saw this story in the Northern Echo last Saturday, I didn't discount it entirely, but
I had the usual doubts I have about virtually every Newcastle United story at the moment. But then
it resurfaced again in this story yesterday, and I'm not quite so doubtful anymore. The "story" is
that whilst [.
Newcastle are being linked Malaga striker Jose Salomon Rondon. Jose Salomon Rondon 22 year-old has
27 goals at Malaga And this is the not the first time Newcastle have been linked with this
player, as there was news back in April and May of last year, that Newcastle were watching the
striker now aged 22.
New Liverpool Manager Brendan Rodgers has made clear his intentions to sign three or four new
signings to his Liverpool squad following the final depature of Italian mis-fit Alberto Aquilaini
to Fiorentino
The Liverpool manager said: "There is nothing imminent just yet, not that I am aware of, but
hopefully things will progress over the next couple of days.
