It was never going to be a world news story like David Beckham, sentimental like saying goodbye to Sir Alex or mentioned in the same breath as Jamie Carragher or Michael Owen's retirement but there is a high chance that after six solid years Bacary Sagna may very well have played his last game for Arsenal yesterday.
The close season is traditionally a time where clubs jettison their weak players, replacing
them with footballers with the skill to take the club one step further, whether that be to qualify
or European competition or avoid another year's relegation struggle. With that in mind I thought it
would be interesting to see which clubs decided a wholesale change would be preferable to keeping
faith with the players who toiled their way through the 2011/2012 season.
When your club hasn't won a trophy for seven seasons, as a squad you could be excused for feeling
the pressure going into the new campaign. But that certainly isn't the case at Arsenal despite the
barren run of silverware, as Gunners defender Andre Santos and midfielder Alex Song enjoyed a
relaxed game of penalties [.
West Brom fans are receiving an unexpected windfall following Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to retire at the end of the season. The Baggies' final match of the season is at home to Manchester United, which means it is also Fergie's last game in the dugout. With United fans desperate to be there to see him [.
Italian poacher extraordinaire Fillipo Inzaghi has several fine accomplishments to his name,
including the record for most hat-tricks scored in Serie A, and is the second most prolific scorer
in European club competitions. But that fine pedigree was not quite enough to turn the shiny head
of Reading manager Brian McDermott, who passed up the [.
Spain begins it's World Cup qualifying campaign this week in Georgia and Iker Casillas feels it
is vital that the defending champions get this new qualifying campaign off to a winning start.
"We need to get the three points because we have some important games coming up, so we have to
beat Georgia as they have already got a win under their belt and we must hit the ground running"
said Casillas.
After the LA game William and I were talking on the way down to the post game conference with
Gavin Wilkinson and I asked him this question: "More negatives or positives to take away from that
game?" His response was "2 positives and 3 negatives." Which is probably an apt description for the
LA game but now their is a new LA opponent and one who has a home record that is worse than their
road record.
So we would have had two weeks since Chelsea's last game against Atletico Madrid by the time we are
ready to face QPR on Saturday. We all know what happened in Monaco and have our concerns with the
way we were ripped apart defensively.
I just want to know what you people think is Chelsea's strongest back four now at the club and for
the hostile atmosphere this weekend at Loftus Road?
David Bentley's Tottenham misery is prolonged until January at least with the news that the 28
year old has joined Russian Premier League outfit FC Rostov on a short term loan.
Bentley had suggested at the start of the season that new head coach Andre Villas-Boas had given
him a clean slate and asked the winger to prove that he still has a future at the club.
Anfield. Arsenal do have plenty of memories at this ground. As with many things in this world,
there are good memories and bad memories. Whether we were old enough to remember the 1989 game or
know about it via watching old videos or reading articles about it, that last game of the season
has to go down as one of the best moments in Arsenal's history.
The Premier League season opened for Manchester United this season with a challenging visit to
Goodison Park to face a tough Everton squad. Many Red fans will remember our last game against
Everton, a 4-4 draw that seemed to cost the Red Devils their 20th league championship. This game
was highly anticipated by most people [.
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has urged his teammates to fight successfully for silverware
every season but admits that the roller-coaster 2011-12 title race left him sweating on the final
match-day.
City, who controlled their destiny going into the last game of the season at home to QPR, needed
to match Manchester United's result to lift the title at the Red Devils' expense.
I haven't been writing regularly recently and that's mainly because there's very little I have
to say right now. Didn't want to read too much into pre-season friendlies and transfer rumours
don't excite me anymore. But today I had a good chat with some people on twitter about the game
against City and it's given me enough thoughts to write this post and make some points that have
been troubling me for a while.
On Tuesday, Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron agreed to terms with Barclays Premier League
side Stoke City on a deal that will bring the US international defender to Britannia Stadium.
Talks between Stoke and MLS have been ongoing for weeks, with the two sides finally agreeing to
terms on Tuesday.
It now seems clear that Robin van Persie has played his last game for Arsenal.
News that the Dutchman will not be involved in the club's pre-season tour of the Far East leaves
little room for doubt that he is on his way out of The Emirates.
It is being reported that Arsenal have turned down an offer from Manchester United and will only
entertain bids in excess of ÂŁ20 million although, they are hoping to hold out for between ÂŁ25 and
ÂŁ30 million.
If you feel like you've seen enough of Chivas USA imagine being the players and coaches that
watch that match tape to get ready for them. In many ways those past performances are not
indications of much. Few teams in MLS have added so much talent during the season. It's certain
that none have done that while not really getting better.
Former D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff had his career end prematurely because of a concussion,
and he is reportedly taking legal action against the club for failing to act with the proper care
that could have prevented the ongoing medical issues he faces today.
The already short-handed Vancouver Whitecaps will be a little more so after learning that
Designated Player Barry Robson was suspended for Saturday's game against the Seattle Sounders. The
MLS Disciplinary Committee announced the punishment for "aggravated dissent against an assistant
referee" on Saturday morning, just hours before the scheduled kickoff time.
San Jose is an odd team. They actually give up more goals early in the game. They and the
Sounders both score more often in the second half, but tonight with Seattle being exhausted from a
compact schedule they could push for an early goal well as fresh as they can be and sit back. This
kind of cynical tactic is rarely used by Sigi Schmid, but today it makes sense.
In what has turned into one of the Timbers' longest standing traditions since joining MLS, the
team gave up three goals while visiting Colorado's Dicks Sporting Goods Park. In a lackluster
effort, standout performances were few and far between, with even the best showings tempered by
moments of rashness or lapses in concentration.
The Portland Timbers once again go to Colorado and get absolutely pasted. The Colorado Rapids
did everything they were supposed to do and wanted to do, meanwhile the Timbers looked listless on
offense and some of the defenders looked clueless. 3-0 loss and back into the cellar.
Thank you for the feed back on the last preview and with that feed back I will do my best to try
to have the same format.
With the win last Friday the Portland Timbers finally climbed out of the cellar and now they
need to get a result on the road to stay out of it. Colorado has not been a place Portland has
looked forward to traveling to with each game they have played at the Dick ending in 3-0
losses.
Fresh off their first win in a long time, the Portland Timbers remain at home this week to take
on Western Conference rival the Colorado Rapids in a two game, home and away series. While the
Timbers are still sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference table, last week's win has
offered them a gleam of hope that they don't have to stay down there.
Timbers general manager/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson
Thoughts on the match:
"I thought we deserved to win it. I said that in the last game against Chivas USA. I'll give a lot
of credit to the guys. We went down 1-0. It feels that every mistake that we make at the moment we
get punished for, and I think that's a valuable lesson for us.
The weather made it feel like FC Dallas was at home and the Portland Timbers were on the road
but the result was not the same as the last game these teams played. Portland, namely Franck
Songo'o, came out strong but were unable to get the opening goal in the first half and were then
punished for a defensive mistake.
The Gavin Wilkinson era for the Portland Timbers in MLS begins Saturday evening on the NBC Sports
Network as they play host to MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy. The Timbers come off a 3-0 loss at Real
Salt Lake last weekend, the last game in charge for John Spencer.
Simply to avoid confusion in locating the video, we have a fresh post to relay that Jozy Altidore
piled on his second (and earned another Man of the Match prize) near the end of a 3-1 AZ win. Of
course, that is his fourth goal of the young season, two above the pack ahead of the last game of
the round, NEC v Ajax.
In the last game for Newcastle United's Reserves clash against a Hamilton Academical 11, it was a
young French trialist (named only as "Trialist" on the team sheet) who undoubtedly stole the show.
He scored two goals, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory for the second string
Mags. Newcastle United's club [.
In this installment of Ordinary Orange Fan Talks Mexican, we have much to discuss regarding the
most recent week in Liga MX. There were quite a few surprises, a couple great comebacks, and of
course incredible goals.
Three weeks into the Apertura 2012, Toluca stands tall at the top of the Mexican table with
three victories.
Just over two weeks ago the New England Revolution looked primed to make a run at the playoffs.
The club was in the midst of a five game unbeaten streak, sitting in sixth place in the East and
closing in on the fifth and final playoff spot while preparing to face the worst team in the
league, Toronto FC, at home.
Following the news that David Beckham is to hang up his boots at the end of the season, OTP explores some of the standout moments of the ex-England captain's career. 1. The free-kick against Greece Having already ran around like a man possessed to play Greece almost by himself for most of the match, Becks [.
Here's the official announcement, the Rapids get a conditional draft pick from Chicago in exchange
for Wells Thompson.
There's a good deal of consternation in the on-line Rapids fanbase about wells asking to be traded
to find playing time, but it doesn't bother me. Look at what's happened this season:
*Wells was on pace for 727 minutes this year, his lowest season total of his career.
Tactics. Injuries. Luck. I tried to make sense of the US loss to Jamaica in Kingston, but this
was the best I could come up with. I promise no Beach Boys if the US advances on the last game away
to Antigua.
- QPR History: From the 1880s to the 21st Century: Bushman QPR Photo Archives - QPR REPORT on TWITTER! - QPR REPORT MESSAGEBOARD- Old QPR Video Links
_________________________________________________ Queen's Park Rangers CEO Philip Beard on Sky's
Footballers' Football Show this week- and as usual spoke a lot of sense.
- Happy Birthday to QPR Great, Les Allen, who Turns 75 Today
Various Photos from the Bushman QPR Photo Archives
- Photos from the Bushman QPR Photo Archives
- Video: Playing in QPR 1967's League Cup Final
QPR's Les Allen Turns Seventy-Five
Les Allen - Ex-QPR player and manager (and father of Clive and Bradley Allen and uncle of
martin Les Allen, Turned Seventy-Five : Born September 4, 1937.
After last night, we need a good, successful match without all the drama. Enter the USA National
team, going for gold against the Japanese. Is it too much to hope that this game ends well in
regulation? Is it too much to ask that the US doesn't wait until the last possible second to win? I
don't know.
Last Sunday was yet another game at home and, while we didn't get the result we all wanted,
looking back it was a sad occasion for more than just the draw. It was Troy Perkins' last game as a
Portland Timber. Of course, we didn't know it at the time, but with the recent trade, it's almost
hard to remember the game at all.
As you are all now well aware of Alvaro Fernandez has been acquired by the Chicago Fire for
allocation money. This can only be described as a huge boost for the Fire organization. Fernandez
has been a main stay in the very good Seattle offensive attack over the last few years. His
production has fallen off from last season to this season.
Houston set out with something to prove at the start of the first of three home games last week.
The team needed quality performances, solid defensive effort, and most of all they needed all nine
points to put themselves in the mix for the home field advantage in their MLS Cup campaign. After
capping two performances where officials graced the Dynamo by awarding two red cards, one for each
of the first two home games, thus giving the team a man up advantage.
