This morning I was looking back through the archives to see if I could do an 'On this day', kind
of feature. I think I picked a bad day.
My choices were: the day after Thierry Henry left (2007), us being linked very heavily with
Alexander Hleb (2005), Jens Lehmann talking about how we should sign Miroslav Klose (2006),
Barcelona talking about wanting to sign Thierry (2003), vaguely hoping Igors Stepanovs might
cripple Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Euros (2004) and a quote from Chris Waddle talking on 5Live
about the Swedish back four at the 2002 World Cup:
The Swedish back four is amongst the tallest in the world cup.
PARIS, France — Lille claimed their first French league title since 1954 despite being held to a
2-2 draw at French Cup final victims Paris Saint-Germain in a heated encounter here on Saturday.
Victors over PSG in last weekend's cup showdown, Lille required just a point to complete the second
league and cup double in [.
PSG goalkeeper Gregory Coupet had to be substituted off in the 85th minute of his side's 1-0 win
over Ligue 1 leaders Auxerre on Saturday after getting his leg stuck in a very painful and very
wrong position.
Usually when this happens, it's the result of an evil challenge from an opponent, but Coupet
essentially did this to himself while attempting to save the ball from going out for a corner
kick.
After a sensational run of five league games unbeaten, newly-promoted Montpellier were finally put
to the sword in a comprehensive 4-2 defeat away to a virtually full-strength Marseille side on
Saturday.
And the good news for Didier Deschamps was that he finally got to see a return on the €18 million
invested in Argentinean playmaker Lucho Gonzalez.
A collection of transfer rumours and facts that are doing the rounds -Harry
Kewell makes move to Galatasaray,Paul Robinson maybe going to West
Bromwich Albion,Italian defender Andrea Dossena goes to Liverpool,Portsmouth are
going to take Peter Crouch for £10m,22-year-old James Milner
from Newcastle is going to Aston Villa,Richard Dunne will be staying on at
Manchester City,Marvin Emnes signed up for Middlesbrough, Steven
Taylor stays with Newcastle United,Atletico Madrid signed French international goalkeeper
Gregory Coupet,Ronaldinho won't be sold at a
discount,Messi's going to Serie A,Cristiano Ronaldo is going to
Real Madrid,no he's not,yes he is,no,yes,no,yes,sez who.
With only days remaining until the World Cup kicks off, many young players are gearing up for
the biggest month in their lives, knowing a good World Cup could could attract interest from some
of the biggest clubs in the world who are sending their best scouts to find the next big thing. The
only downside to being young is that sometimes coaches prefer experience in big competitions
already top youngsters Tommy Oar from Australia and Adam Johnson from England have been left out of
their national teams' final twenty-three despite having better seasons than players who have been
selected ahead of them.
Well, the season has come and gone, and OL are sitting virtually on top of the world: second
place finish in the league- I'm sure none of us could give less of a crap about a league title-
automatic qualification for the CL with no qualifying BS, and despite the ups and downs and things
that could have been done better, we're feeling pretty good.
Five veteren players who might be on the way out this summer.
Lyon reached a turning point in this season in that there was an influx of youth during their
summer mercato which, coupled with their aging core, signaled that the rebuilding of the squad was
underway; whether intentional or not, something had to give.
Interesting quote last week from Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, on why he left Lyon for
Madrid: "I felt there was too large of a gap between myself and the young players of OL. So
much so, that I didn't see anything of myself in the new generation. That to me is harder and
harder to [...]
As everyone's probably already heard, Fabio Grosso went down in the 18th min of
Italy's 2-1 win over Cyprus. Fabio left the game with an injury to his flank. The diagnosis is two
fractured ribs. It's believed he will be out of the Lyon line-up for at least one month. That
amounts to Grosso missing at least (6) matches.
Bojan...scored more often as a youth than Darren McFadden
Grégory Coupet - Atletico Madrid - Goalkeeper
Coupet is 35 and French national team goalkeeper, so hardly an unknown. However, it will be
interesting to see how he performs in his first season outside France. Coupet was a major part of
the Lyon success story and has seven league winners medals, although he is probably most famous for
this double save against Barcelona.
Lyon had their first summer friendly this afternoon against Nimes in Albertville. Goals were
scored by Juninho (10), Yannis Tafer (40), and Anthony
Mounier (63). This was Claude Puel's first match in charge, and for many of the players,
their first match in an OL jersey.
Disclaimer: I know that it's been a week now since Hatem Ben Arfa left
Lyon for Marseille. Both John and Magnusson have covered this
topic very thoroughly, so most of you are probably tired of hearing about it.
The transfer window is open. Players are on the move. What does this mean for our France boys
and their club situations? Let's take a look at a few of our gents and where they'll be playing
next season.
We all know that Gregory Coupet is out the door for Lyon, right? Or maybe
not.
Not to dwell on the play-off saga any longer, but I missed this story about
Domenech fighting with Bixente Lizarazu(former Bordeaux, Bayern,
Marseille and France defender) on the French National Radio minutes after beating Ireland. If you
can't understand the video, this article should help you understand what is going on.
Wow, a huge upset in the first round of European World Cup qualifiers as Austria beat France 3-1.
When you look at those lineups, there is no way that France should not at least have come out of
Vienna without a draw, and even that would have to be considered an upset. I am sure that the
pressure is now squarely on Raymond Domenech, but it really should be on the French FA for keeping
Domenech after the debacle that was the French performance at Euro 2008.
First of all let's start with the end of everyone's favorite saga - Juan Carlos Osorio has finally
resigned from the Red Bulls, leaving perennial interim Richie Williams in charge. This move comes
months too late, but maybe, just maybe, soon enough to allow for the Red Bulls not finish with the
worst record in league history.
Atletico Madrid have signed goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo from Real Valladolid on a four-year
contract for a fee in the region of 5.5 million euros and the loan of striker Diego Costa for one
season.
One of the many misconceived notions lingering around in the game is the interpretation that
persisting with a young, relatively inexperienced, occupier of the goalkeeper gloves could be
detrimental to both the player and the club.
Since securing promotion all the way back in 2005-2006, Jallet can count himself as a
persistently imperative cog in Lorient's three consecutive years of top-flight consolidation where
the Cognac-born guard has clocked up 98 appearances.
French & ATLETICO DE MADRID 36 year old Goalkeeper GREGORYCOUPET has shut a two year contract deal
with French Club PARISSAINT GERMAIN. The Frenchmen returns to French Football afteran unsuccessful
year & attempt at Atletico that lead to completefrustration.(photo: Coupet)Continuing with
Atletico, goalkeepers & with a "French flavour",Spanish daily "Mundo Deportivo" publish that
according to "
If you haven't yet taken our weekly quiz, stop by here and make your guesses, then come back to see
if you're correct. It didn't take you long to guess that these were goalkeepers, did it? And it
also didn't take you long to guess who most of them were. Nobody got all nine, [...]
If you haven't already taken our weekend quiz on Bundesliga and La Liga players, stop by here
first. Then come back to this post for the answers. Player 1 Eric Abidal, FC Barcelona Player 2
Timo Hildebrand, Hoffenheim And while I was looking for that photo, I found this one of Timo, which
I [.
Watching charity matches is always a little surreal. Part footy match, part spectacle, part day
trip away from the retirement home. I don't think I've seen any game that captured this surreality
more than yesterday's charity match between "Friends of Zidane" and "Friends of
Ronaldo" (the Brazilian one, not the pretty one) to [.
With a doff of the cap to Mr Abbiati's exertions last night, here's ten more fine, flying,
clawing, sprawling goalkeeping double saves to feast your peepers uponst...
1. Jim Montgomery, SUNDERLAND vs Leeds
Regarded by gentlemanly scholars as the greatest double save to have ever graced the game, so a
fitting place to start.
PARIS, France — Montpellier moved to within one win of their first trophy in over 20 years on
Tuesday as they beat 10-man Paris Saint Germain in their French League Cup semi-final. A header by
Olivier Giroud four minutes from the end of extra-time handed Montpellier who won the second of
their French Cups [.
Every year, the UEFA Champions League creates new stars, providing the platform
from which nationally renowned talents break through to the next level international recognition.
The path from there is often inevitable pundits, agents and scouts wonder if this latest revelation
can perform at a higher level.
Recently in an interview in Lyon Mag weekly, my favorite Lyon player ever and "god
of the goal nets" Gregory Coupet spoke about one of his reasons for leaving
Lyon. In the inteview, the veteran goalkeeper reveals that his main reason for leaving Lyon was the
age-old problem of the generation gap.
Almeria
In: Esteban Solari (undisclosed, Pumas), Pablo Piatti (undisclosed, Estudiantes La Plata), Michel
(undisclosed, Flamengo), David Moreno (undisclosed, Real Madrid), Esteban (free, Celta Vigo), Julio
Alvarez (free, Numancia), Hernan Pellerano (undisclosed, Velez Sarsfield), Chico (undisclosed,
Cadiz)
Out: Felipe Melo (€13m, Fiorentina), Veljko Paunovic (free, FK Partizan), David Rodriguez
(loan, Celta), Ruben Pulido (free, Real Zaragoza), Mario Bermejo (free, Xerez), Francisco (free,
Alicante)
Athletic Bilbao
In: Jose Garcia Del Olmo (undisclosed, Eibar)
Out: Asier Del Horno (loan return, Valencia), Daniel Aranzubia (free, Deportivo), Unai Exposito
(free, Hercules), Iban Zubiaurre (loan, Elche), Toquero (loan, Eibar), Aritz Aduriz (undisclosed,
Mallorca)
Atletico Madrid In: Tomas Ujfalusi (free, Fiorentina), Johnny Heitinga
(€10m, Ajax), Florent Sinama Pongolle (undisclosed, Recreativo), Gregory Coupet (undisclosed,
Lyon), Paulo Assuncao (free, Porto), Ever Banega (loan, Valencia)
Out: Falcon (free, Celta), Mista (free, Deportivo), Braulio Nobrega (undisclosed, Zaragoza),
Cuellar (free, Murcia), Roberto Jimenez (undisclosed, Recreativo), Raul Llorente (free, Alaves),
Josne Manuel Juardo (loan, Mallorca), Mario Suarez (undisclosed, Mallorca), Ze Castro (loan,
Deportivo), Jose Antonio Reyes (loan, Benfica), Cleber Santana (loan, Mallorca), Diego Costa (loan,
Albacete), Jacobo (free, Alaves)
Barcelona In: Seydou Keita (€14 mil, Sevilla), Daniel Alves (€32
mil, Sevilla), Gerard Pique (undisclosed, Manchester United), Martin Caceres (€16.
Via tigres.com.mx
MONTERREY, 19 de Julio.- Los Tigres de la UANL dejaron un buen sabor de boca, al venir de
atrás y sacar el empate de 2-2 al Atlético de Madrid, en lo que fue el último
partido de preparación para el conjunto felino.
El trofeo "Hotel Camino Real" fue para el visitante, al terminar en empate el juego, pero
los 30 mil aficionados que asistieron al Estadio Universitario se llevaron buena impresión,
sobre todo en la segunda parte.
