One of the best stats that Arsenal possess at the minute in the English Premier League is the goals conceded, and if Vito Mannone plays on Sunday then we will have a keeper who has not conceded any league goals. Szczesny blundered to allow Southampton a consolation but the good form of Mannone should help the Polish international to sharpen up.
Many Arsenal fans are wondering where the goals will come from now that former captain Robin van
Persie has signed for the hated rivals Manchester United. The Dutchman scored 30 league goals last
season and that could prove difficult to replace. Some people believe that it was the excellent
service he got last season that [.
With Robin van Persie's transfer finally completed, we finally see this long drawn out butÂ
unusually calm transfer saga draw to a close. And not surprisingly, lots of United fans are
excited at the prospect of van Persie signing with us, as they rightfully should be. Any time a
player who has scored 30 league goals in a season is about to sign with your club, delight and joy
are the emotions that one should be feeling.
On the eve of the 2012-13 Premier League season, Clint Dempsey remains in club limbo.Â
Fulham manager Martin announced that Dempsey, the club's leading scorer last season, will not be
part of Fulham's matchday roster for Saturday's season opener against Norwich City while also
confirming that Dempsey wants to leave Craven Cottage.
So that's it then, it's official, Robin van Persie is on his way.
It's a pity it's ended this way, with van Persie (prompted by his agents, Kees Vos and Darren
Dein) having forced his way out of the club by publicly undermining the club of which he was
captain. It was clear when he came on as a sub against Cologne at the weekend, when the Arsenal
fans in the house gave our erstwhile hero the most tepid of welcomes, that his statement had hit
home; his hero status had evaporated.
So that's it then, it's official, Robin van Persie is on his way.
It's a pity it's ended this way, with van Persie (prompted by his agents, Kees Vos and Darren
Dein) having forced his way out of the club by publicly undermining the club of which he was
captain. It was clear when he came on as a sub against Cologne at the weekend, when the Arsenal
fans in the house gave our erstwhile hero the most tepid of welcomes, that his statement had hit
home; his hero status had evaporated.
Sakho Back On Arsenal's Radar? It's obvious to every Arsenal fan that although it's great that we
are spending and signing some top class players in attack, our defence is the same as it was last
season and with 49 league goals conceded, it is clear that something needs improving. One defender
that has been [.
When a football player remains silent for weeks or even months on end about his future at a
specific football club, you know there's a good chance he's not quite happy with his situation.
When Robin van Persie announced he wasn't going to re-sign with Arsenal it shouldn't have surprised
anybody.
Nicklas Bendtner's agent Tom Brooks has revealed that several European clubs
are interested in signing his client.
The Arsenal striker, who is rumoured to be a summer transfer target for rich Spanish club
Malaga, spent the 2011/12 season on loan at Sunderland but failed to find any real form and managed
to score just eight league goals all season.
Having failed to sign Serie A star Thiago Silva from AC Milan earlier this summer, Manchester
City have now discovered that Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco and Spanish striker Fernando
Llorente will likely prove to be equally difficult targets.
The rights to Giovinco, 25, were yesterday acquired completely by Italian champions Juventus
from co-owners Parma for a reported €11 million.
TweetArsenal have completed the signing of Montpellier forward Olivier Giroud for ÂŁ12.8m with the
Frenchman ready to pen a four-year contract. Giroud was an inimical part of an unfancied
Montpellier side who blasted their way to the French title last season with the 25-year-old bagging
an impressive 21 league goals as La Paillade defied odds [.
There's a hot Dutch debate taking place across the sea concerning Arsenal's Robin van Persie and
Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. It appears the nation's football supporters are divided over who
should start as striker for the upcoming Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
In one corner we have the 28-year-old Golden-Boot winner van Persie, who scored 30 league goals
for the Gunners this season and 37 overall, and in the other corner, 28-year-old Bundesliga
marksman Huntelaar, who scored 29 league goals and 48 overall in 47 games.
Montpellier, a club akin to Wolves in size and financial power, pulled off a fantastic shock in
Ligue 1 this season, beating moneybags PSG to the French title and showing that, despite the
Chelsea and Man City's of this world, it is still possible to succeed without some rich geezer
spunking bazillions on his latest plaything.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has lauded captain Robin van
Persie for scoring 30 league goals this season and said that the Dutch striker's
achievement is 'special.'
Van Persie has become only the seventh Arsenal player ever to reach the 30-goal mark in a single
season and, according to Wenger, the striker's historical accomplishment shows just how vital he is
to the Gunners.
Sporting KC got some extremely bad news today on the injury front. Teal Bunbury, who only played 14
minutes last night against the Red Bulls before being subbed out, is done for the year. Today
Sporting announced the Bunbury had torn his ACL and damaged his LCL. Bunbury picked up the injury
on Kansas City's goal after colliding with New York goalkeeper, Bill Gaudette.
Newcastle are expected to return with an improved offer to take Liverpool's Andy Carroll on a
season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal in future.
Liverpool dismissed Newcastle's first offer on Sunday night, but the Anfield club will consider a
better deal.
Newcastle initially only offered to pay part of Carroll's ÂŁ80,000-a-week wages.
Out Goes Dane, In Comes SebaThe New York Red Bulls went trade happy on Friday, concluding a
pair of deals to bolster their lineup for the second half of the season. By far the biggest move of
the day was the trade of speedy veteran Dane Richards for the much less speedy but arguably far
more productive Sebastian Le Toux (yes, that Sebastian Le Toux).
Rumours of Wayne Rooney leaving Manchester United are foolish and unwarranted - originally
posted on Soccerlens.com
Speculation in the English press over the weekend has stated that Manchester United boss Sir
Alex Ferguson may well be considering selling star striker Wayne Rooney, after the forward started
the new season slowly.
Woo! Young guns having some fun, crazy ladies keep 'em on... *ahem*. Here's our list of the top
ten tyros we'll be watching with great interest over the course of the European Championships this
summer. Starting, as is custom, with number one...
Usually when Liverpool signs a player, I've at least a passing familiarity with the player.
Sometimes, it's someone I've watched often – like Joe Allen, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing,
Charlie Adam, etc. You know, players bought from other Premiership sides. Less often, it's someone
I've seen on a few occasions and can supplement with statistics and those damned YouTube videos,
like Fabio Borini.
There has been much debate about where the little Uruguayan should be deployed, up front or down
the wings. Suarez has played on the wings before, in fact, he started his career down the right
flank, he impressed at FC Groningen from this position, notching up 10 goals in 29 games,
impressive, to say the least for a winger.
Well, while waiting on pins and needles in the hopes that Liverpool have signed Fabio Borini (look,
there's a picture of him in training gear!), we get news that Maxi Rodriguez's inevitable exit has
finally come to pass.
Which Liverpool did an excellent job of promoting, as has become par for the course.
Newcastle United fans will be hoping that the month of July goes by quicker than normal as the end
of the month marks the cut-off date in Demba Ba's release clause that could see him leave for just
ÂŁ7million.
The Senegal international was one of the form striker of last season, despite struggling after
returning from the Africa Cup of Nations when he was asked to play in wide positions.
Liverpool snapped a four match winless streak at Anfield with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Chelsea, who needed a win to keep their chances of a top four finish alive, started off poorly and
never recovered.
It started with a Michael Essian own goal in the 19th minute then continued with goals from
Jordan Henderson (25th minute) and Daniel Agger (28th minute).
As always, ussoccer.com published all the news and notes to get your ready for USA-Mexico tonight
at 7 p.m. CT (ESPN2,ESPN3, Univision).
Here's some highlights to get you started:
Six players on the U.S. roster play professionally in Liga MX in Mexico: DaMarcus Beasley,
Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona, Herculez Gomez, Michael Orozco Fiscal and Jose Torres.
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced the initial 16 players that will arrive in Orlando
beginning today. Some fast facts on the first group:
Clint Dempsey is coming off a record-setting season for a U.S. international in England,
recording his 50th career English Premier League goal while setting a single-season mark for league
goals scored (17) and goals in all competitions (23).
The summer months can get frustrating for football fans. For every newspaper story (most, we
assume, with a grain of truth to them) we have several internet rumours and counter rumours (few,
we assume, with a grain of truth to them) and everyone laps it all up anyway because without actual
matches our addiction needs feeding somehow (and by reading these articles and some sportsbook
reviews, placing a bet on your favorite team will be easy).
The summer months can get frustrating for football fans. For every newspaper story (most, we
assume, with a grain of truth to them) we have several internet rumours and counter rumours (few,
we assume, with a grain of truth to them) and everyone laps it all up anyway because without actual
matches our addiction needs feeding somehow.
Barcelona provided Pep Guardiola with the perfect sendoff by routing Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in
the Copa del Rey final on Friday night, the club's 14th trophy in four seasons under its most
successful coach.
Pedro Rodriguez scored in the third and 25th minutes, and Lionel Messi ended his record-setting
season with his 73rd goal in the 20th minute.
LIONEL MESSI of FC BARCELONAÂ with his 50Â Spanish League goals not only creates an all-time Liga &
European record but also wins this seasons EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD. The second placed is Real
Madrid player ( last years winner) CRISTIANO RONALDO with also impressive & records numbers of 46
goals ( 92 pts ).
2012 Europa League Final Preview: Which revived Spanish side will triumph in Bucharest? -
originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Coming into this season, many expected the UEFA Champions League final to be an all-Spanish
affair between Barcelona and Real Madrid. That hasn't come to pass, as Bayern Munich and Chelsea
had other plans.
The scoresheet for yesterday's match between Hartlepool and Notts County was particularly apt, with Hartley and Pool on target for the home side. It was the first time Peter Hartley and James Poole have both scored in the same match. And they kindly decided to grab their goals in the correct order. Hartley has scored [.
All hail Eddie Johnson. The Seattle Sounders forward has now scored 13 league goals, setting a
new team record with seven matches left to play.
The two he scored on Saturday were vintage Johnson, leading the Sounders to a 2-1 win over
Chivas USA. The first was a matter of him out leaping three Chivas USA defenders and was very
reminiscent of a goal he scored against the New England Revolution earlier this year.
Liverpool's manager, Brendan Rodgers, will be out of contract before September ends. You heard it
here first.
Since the American owner, John Henry, took over, little remorse has been shown to managers who have
failed to deliver top results. Anyone who gets rid of Kenny Dalglish from Liverpool F.
- QPR REPORT on TWITTER! - QPR REPORT MESSAGEBOARD - QPR in Video
- QPR History: From the 1880s to the 21st Century: Bushman QPR Photo Archives_____________________________________________________________
- QPR (and every other Premiership Club) 25 Man Squads have to be announced today.
Prior to the 2012 campaign, the Philadelphia Union had only lost 4 matches at home. It is early
June, and the team ranks last in virtually every offensive category with a disappointing home
record of 1-3-1. Eastern Conference teams are 31-15-12 at home this year (8 losses occurred at PPL
Park or Toronto FC's BMO Field) and Western Conference teams are 31-20-12 at home (9 losses at the
Home Depot Center).
Tonight the Sounders Women play their first competitive match of the season at Starfire after
picking up a road win against Vancouver in their opener. With the team is the full contingent of
national team players, who've rushed back from a friendly with China to take part in the home
opener.
This is the middle match in great stretch for Starfire, with the senior Sounders winning the US
Open Cup match last night, the Sounders Women kicking off tonight, and the Reserves kick off
tomorrow with the potential of a Steve Zakuani sighting.
