West Ham United travels to Hull City this Saturday and will be looking to put the miserable Everton
match behind them. We have to start winning and stay in control of our Premiership destiny. We need
to set off on a winning run. At the moment, West Ham cannot put together a win streak that our play
at times deserves.
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Above average finishing ability, Average rat-tail, Below average fitness
history
The Premier League is back, and while the World Cup is still top of mind
(especially for those Irish and French fans), the greatest league in the world is back from a two
week hiatus. Let's get to it:
I. Click to continue reading...
Anfield Talk 14 November @ 11:14 AM EST
Jamie Carragher insists the mood remains positive at Melwood following the latest spate of injuries
to hit the treatment room.
Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio all withdrew from international duty this week with
minor knocks, but Carragher is hopeful his team-mates will be ready to face Manchester City next
weekend.
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John Terry
We never give too much attention to defenders in the weekly Top Performers, but last week John
Terry not only led the Blues to a shutout against a highly potent offense, but he also put in the
lone goal of the match and a timely first on the season for Terry.
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Anfield Talk 09 November @ 03:35 PM EST
Rafael BenÃtez believes that Liverpool have been the victims of bad luck this season and has
spoken of his conviction that the club will have significantly improved their league position
within "one or two months". The Liverpool manager, who has presided over six defeats in the last
eight matches ahead of Birmingham City's visit tonight, claimed he was "100% sure" his team would
start to climb the table.
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SoccerLens 06 November @ 05:50 PM EST
Even this early on into the current EPL season viewers have witnessed nearly every team have at
least one or two surprise if not shock results. Often these so called ‘blips' have been
accompanied by a dip in form, or at the very least results that have meant the table from top to
bottom is as intriguing and open as perhaps it has ever been before.
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On paper the game tomorrow against 2nd bottom Peterborough should be an easy game. But football
games are not played on paper, and we've already learned that in the Championship that any side can
raise their game on the day, especially when they play Newcastle. And the opposing team's play
bears no resemblance to their league position [.
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Ligue 1 teams had an amazing week in the Champions League (not so much in the Europa) that somewhat
validated my prediction of French teams being real contenders this year. While Bordeaux won with
class and Lyon once again upset Liverpool in the same manner they did 2 weeks ago, Marseille
destroyed Zurich and are now in a position to make Real and Milan sweat.
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Frank Lampard has already added fuel to the fire ahead of Manchester United's much anticipated
trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Lampard is certain that his Chelsea side is ready for the
defending Premier League champions, but has warned his teammates that either team can win on the
day.
"I don't think anyone will need to work hard to get up for the United game, we all know it's
coming.
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SoccerLens 02 November @ 02:50 AM EST
About six weeks ago I did a piece predicting West Ham to win the Premier League based on their
league position this year and Manchester United's league position last year after 5 games.
That prediction hasn't been working out too well (hopefully you didn't think I was
serious...although I'm pretty sure I still managed to annoy some Millwall fans.
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Normally the points in this fixture are rather an irrelevance, but this time there is more at
stake than just bragging rights. The sides go into the game separated only by goal difference, and
the three points up for grabs could prove crucial come May. Ultimately, league position is the
gauge, and this season for a change we have a realistic chance of finishing above l'Arse.
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On Wednesday night two of the world's biggest clubs meet in the Champions League. La Liga
giants Real Madrid take on Serie A outfit AC Milan in what surely has to be the pick of the
Champions League action.
The two sides have had contrasting fortunes in both league and cup this season.
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1.How do you feel about the departure of your manager John Barnes and Jason McAteer ?
I am glad John Barnes and McAteer have been sacked as i feel if we carried on any longer with
those 2 in charge we would have been relegated and if we brought anyone in later on in the season
it would have been to late to turn things around.
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Premier League clubs, it should be remembered, enjoy every single advantage that the football
world can throw at them. They have massive television contracts which give them an annual amount of
money that would keep most lower league clubs going for years. They have the opportunity of
European football.
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(All times - UK)
Monday 28th September
20:00 Manchester City v West Ham Utd, Barclays Premier League, ESPN & HDOne of the games of the weekend. City are through to the next round of the Cup and will be anxious
to continue their programme for World Domination (local derbies not withstanding).
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Soccer Pie 22 September @ 03:00 AM EST
There is generally at least one managerial casualty in the opening stages of a new season and
there are plenty of contenders in the Premier League in my opinion. Portsmouth, Hull City
and Blackburn are the current occupiers of the relegation places but Bolton, West
Ham and Wigan aren't fairing much better and heads may roll before October (or even
September) is out.
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Cheltenham Town 1 - 1 Rotherham United
League 2 Saturday 20th September
On the form book this match looked to be the draw which Cheltenham then managed to pull off. But
when they say that a good team will get points from a game even when they are playing badly I doubt
that the sooth sayers meant this badly.
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Lazio coach Davide Ballardini has asked his players to show they are worthy of their lofty
league position when they play Juventus. Two consecutive victories have placed the Roman side as
joint Serie A leaders with the Bianconeri, Sampdoria and Genoa.
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Lazio coach Davide Ballardini has called on his players to show they are worthy of their lofty
league position when they play Juventus on Saturday.
Two consecutive victories have placed the Roman side as joint Serie A leaders with the
Bianconeri, Sampdoria and Genoa.
But this weekend's encounter in Rome should prove if Lazio have what it takes to remain in the
higher echelons of the top flight having so far come up against Atalanta and Chievo, who did not
really test Ballardini's men.
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US AIK 08 September @ 06:38 AM EST
AIK's last game of the season will be played on November 1st against IFK Göteborg. The game, which
will be played at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, could very well be a decisive match in the title
race. Any real supporter would obviously do whatever they can to be on hand for that event.
Since AIK supporters are arguably the most devoted fans in Swedish soccer, the tickets to the AIK
sections are now sold out, almost two months ahead of the game.
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The London Evening Standard have reported that Martin Petrov has undergone a medical ahead of him
being unveiled as a Tottenham player later this afternoon, with talks underway to include David
Bentley in any deal - but possibly only on a season long loan.
It is a difficult one to call with regards to Petrov.
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Apologies, apologies apologies. There was no blog yesterday due to the fact that recently I
kinda forgot I had a real life, neglected it badly, and some 'stuff' came up which had to be dealt
with a result. Yes it was all my fault.
Anyway, why would you care about that 'stuff', all you care about is the Arsenal and what's
going on, and I don't blame you.
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by CARL ELDRIDGE Arsene Wenger has gone all spendy on Bendy, if you are to believe this
morning's papers. The Sun reports that super Nic Bendtner has agreed a new
£2.5million-a-year contract at the glorious Gunners
The redtop claims the deal is an "incredible turnaround" for the Danish striker, 21, whose
Emirates career, it reports, had been blighted by bust-ups with former team-mate Emmanuel
Adebayor.
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Apart from transfer rumours, commentary on managers probably forms the bulk of football chatter.
Before, during and after every game, every decision is scrutinised; every minute move debated;
tactics, strategy, man-management, motivation, appearance all feed into an endless discourse
debating whether any given manager is succeeding or not.
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US AIK 07 August @ 02:28 PM EST
I've described the derbies against our true antagonists Djurgården and Hammarby as the Battle
Ryales of Swedish soccer. A derby against Brommapojkarna never truly reaches the same levels of
anticipation and hysteria. This is a instead a game that I've dubbed the Novelty Derby. It's a
novelty because it's a rather new derby as Brommapojkarna is only playing their second season ever
in Allsvenskan.
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It has been a curious summer for the "club across the water". Tranmere Rovers, just over the
River Mersey from Liverpool and Everton, ended last season having just missed out on a play-off
place in League One after dropping two points at home to Scunthorpe United on the final day season.
They sacked manager Ronnie Moore at the start of June and replaced him with John Barnes, and one
might have expected them to have had a quiet summer working on how they could improve on their
league position this time around.
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