In recent transfer windows and recent seasons we constantly hear Wenger and the Board remind us
that we are building a team for the future, a club for the 21st century, one that
does things differently promotes from within and doesn't need to pay huge transfer fees to
compete.
Some fans have countered this reasoning (fairly) that without a present the future means
nothing, and that the future has as little guarantee as signing a £50million striker or a
£35million striker depending on which team you prefer laughing at the most.
The midfield. Currently viewed as the strength of the team. But is it really set right now?
Let's break it down:
Defensive Midfielders: Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause, Daniel Paladini, Mike
Videira
This is clearly the strength of the midfield. Pavel Pardo is in a class by himself.
Marco Reus finds all the right answers to Bayern's trash talk. Reus'
announcement to move to Dortmund in the summer, triggered a series of trademark taunts from down
south during the winter break. Reus supposedly demanded a guaranteed starting spot at Bayern. He
chickened from trying to fight for his place in the team.
The current table shows Inter in 5th place yet the Nerazzurri have a greater chance of competing
for the league title than Udinese or Lazio who are currently above them in the standings. Inter's
players have the necessary experience and the quality players to challenge for titles while both
Udinese and Lazio are lacking in terms of experience and the killer instinct needed to win
difficult matches.
The Houston Dynamo have always seemed to have a love-hate relationship with the MLS SuperDraft.
In the franchise's early years in Houston, Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear seemed to have no qualms
about trading away a top draft pick in order to obtain a player who filled a need or role right
away for his squad.
Totteham Hotspurs' winger, Gareth Bale, is in a confident mood ahead of his team's travel to
challenge the current league leader, Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.
The Welsh international believes that despite losing 5-1 in their previous meeting against City
this season, Spurs can come away with a positive result from their upcoming away trip against
Roberto Mancini's team.
Carlo Ancelotti joined PSG in December after being sacked by Chelsea. The Italian won the double
in his first season but failed to inspire The Blues as they finished without a trophy the following
season.
The 52-year-old admitted he was hoping to replace Arsene Wenger in north London.
There are no excuses, yesterday we were outplayed and outfought by a newly promoted side, as
Swansea beat us 3-2 to seriously dent our hopes of making the top four.
The penalty decision was questionable, yes, but as has been the problem recently, we were not up
for this game at all.
Captain Fantastic...Liverpool were victorious in the first leg of
the Carling Cup Semi Final with Manchester City last night courtesy of a Steven Gerrard penalty.
Manager Kenny Dalglish used tactics to his advantage as Liverpool began to park the bus in the
second half. Man City could do nothing to get an effort past the Liverpool defence let alone past
Pepe Reina who was left relatively jobless throughout the 90 minutes.
Getting close in securing Gary Cahill from Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea apparently will still
continue their surge in the winter transfer market and capture at least another quality player.
This confirmation was revealed by the club's tactician, Andre Villas-Boas, who unfortunately
still can't confirm, whose the other player they're trying to grab this January aside from
Cahill.
Federico Macheda's path with Manchester United's first team doesn't seem to cross again as after
experiencing a six month loan to Sampdoria last season, the Italian is walking in a pretty similar
road again in this second part of the season.
After tasting a rather bitter Serie A experience, this time Macheda isn't moving that far as he
is temporarily stayed with fellow premiership side, Queens Park Rangers, which the young striker
believes could be the perfect spot for him.
Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the
"Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's
eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have
started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite
the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).
Carlo Ancelotti is set to take over as PSG coach after he was flown into the French capital to
discuss a possible deal that would see him coach the mega rich Ligue 1 side.
The former AC Milan and Chelsea coach was among the people considered for the top job after
reports arose claiming that current coach Antoine Kombouare was dismssed.
If you were getting bored with American soccer news and the MLS off-season, then you certainly have
something to catch your attention now. Today via twitter American soccer play Preston Zimmerman set
a debate in motion that will likely be rolling around for a while. The young attacker wrote a
diatribe that brings several issues to the forefront of conversation and there were two points that
should be taken note of.
Ah, fixture congestion. A holly, jolly Christmas indeed.
Will Bob be in the mix?
Chelsea begin this oh so very festive period by hosting Fulham at the Bridge. This represents
the first of three games over eight days, a favorable span which includes Aston Villa (h) and
Wolves (a) that could go far in spreading some holiday cheer around the place.
Four games in the next 13 days should give Arsenal sufficient opportunity to bounce back from
the recent disheartening defeat against the League leaders. Given the state of injuries in defence
though, Arsene will have to take things game by game. There isn't much room left for tinkering,
particularly at the back.
Four games in the next 13 days should give Arsenal sufficient opportunity to bounce back from
the recent disheartening defeat against the League leaders. Given the state of injuries in defence
though, Arsene will have to take things game by game. There isn't much room left for tinkering,
particularly at the back.
Manchester City 1 – 0
Arsenal: Match report and player ratings
Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous
progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of
experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we
could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.
Manchester City 1 – 0
Arsenal: Match report and player ratings
Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous
progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of
experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we
could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.
Difficult drawing for premiership teams didn't only happened in the Champions League but also in
the second rate European competition, Europa League, where all three English representatives are
being paired with tough sides.
Manchester United will be facing fellow Champions outcast, Ajax Amsterdam, while Manchester City
are set to battle last season's champions Fc Porto and Stoke City got pretty much the toughest one
with Valencia at sight.
The two historic sides of Spanish football will face-off this weekend in a highly anticipated
match expected to carry massive repercussions for the remainder of the season. Real Madrid are on
top of the standings with a three point advantage over bitter rivals Barcelona. There is no lost
love between the two sides and the regional and geopolitical factors add to the intensity of this
clash.
We have qualified top of the group. Well done, lads.
Is this a reason to play a B team tonight? You bet it is.
Olympiakos would like to win this fixture and thus have the chance to progress, Marseilles would
like us to win and allow them to go into the knockout rounds.
We have qualified top of the group. Well done, lads.
Is this a reason to play a B team tonight? You bet it is.
Olympiakos would like to win this fixture and thus have the chance to progress, Marseilles would
like us to win and allow them to go into the knockout rounds.
With the hectic Christmas period fast approaching, I thought it was time to assess our performances
to date in the Premier League and the Carling Cup to date.
We have played 17 games so far this season, winning ten, drawing 5 and losing only 2.
Reasonable results by any standard.
What is obvious to everyone is the fact that we are not converting enough of our chances into goals
and wins.
Neymar played for Brazil against the U.S. MNT in 2010The Nike International Friendlies are in their ninth season and the event has seen its fair share
of quality players coming in from national teams around the world. We were looking through some of
the scores in past editions and found these highlights from 2008:
If you read the match report you'll read a name you may recognize: Neymar.
One to watch - Georginio Wijnaldum (now playing for PSV after coming from Feyenoord)
I always thought of the Eredivisie as a league with very attractive football, always
straightforward and with lots and lots of goals. Today I'm going to watch the match between
Feyenoord and PSV, two of the giants in dutch football.
Classy AVB needs time, not a spending spree
Roman Abramovichis one of the richest men in football, but the one thing Andre Villas-Boas needs
more than anything right now won't cost Chelsea's owner a single penny. Of course, a £50million
transfer kitty to spend in January wouldn't do AVB any harm.
England national team got themselves a pretty good draw in their Euro 2012 campaign, considering
all the worse possibilities, being paired with Ukraine, France and Sweden obviously isn't the
toughest group on paper.
This drawing result apparently gave confidence to the Union Jack's manager, Fabio Capello, who
revealed that his team obviously got a pretty comfortable group on paper especially compared to
Group B which consist the likes of Holland, Germany, Portugal and Denmark.
Carling Cup draw guarantees a Championship team will be in the final
• Crystal Palace v Cardiff City • Manchester City v Liverpool The Carling Cup final will
feature a Championship team after the semi-final draw pitched Crystal Palace and Cardiff against
each other.
The Montreal Impact did not draft any New England Revolution players in this year's MLS
Expansion Draft, despite some valuable options being left up for grabs. Darrius Barnes, Ryan Guy,
and designated player Milton Caraglio were among the Revolution players left unprotected coming
into this draft, which would have been significant losses had they been chosen.
Anfield legend Alan Hansen believes that Liverpool's 'fantastic and thoroughly professional'
victory over Chelsea has 'set the team up magnificently' for the crunch game with Manchester City
this weekend.
Liverpool now have quality players fighting it our for most positions in the team, and Hansen
believes this strength in depth has 'raised the standard of the team in general'.
Houston's Danny Cruz could be an easy selection for the Impact tomorrow. (Getty Images)
I've already given a mock draft based on my predictions of each MLS club's protection lists and
now that the real lists are out we can get a better sense of who could be actually taken
tomorrow.
Every team released their protection lists yesterday evening with a few surprises listed
Montreal should come away with a decent start to their expansion campaign.
Reina: Suarez Trumps Torres
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina beleives Fernando Torres is not missed at Anfield thanks to the
impact of his replacement, Luis Suarez. Torres and Reina were and remain good friends off the
field, and while the Spanish stopper believes his compatriot is still a quality players, he is of
the opinion that Suarez may well be better.
When the NCAA Men's D1 bracket was announced there was a somewhat surprising team left out of
the tournament. Despite a 12-4-2 record, winning 7 of their last 8 and being 18th in the Coaches
Poll the University of Washington Huskies season did not continue. First year head coach Jamie
Clark did see six Huskies make all-PAC12 honors.
Ask 10 Seattle Sounders fans who they would like to see protected in the upcoming MLS Expansion
Draft and you're probably going to get 10 slightly different answers. Just about everyone can agree
that Mauro Rosales, Fredy Montero and Osvaldo Alonso should be protected, but beyond those three
there seems to be at least some level of decent.
Manchester City's success in leading the premier league table and also maintaining their
unbeaten streak have really earned them plenty admirers, but one of their important players, Yaya
Toure, revealed that record is not actually something they're after.
Toure confessed that being undefeated is not something that his team's are thinking about as for
the Ivory Coast international, acquiring success with the Eastlands is what matter the most.
The criticism of Arsène for trying to force square pegs into round holes has frequently been
levelled over recent seasons. Bendtner, Eboue and Arshavin in particular have all been deployed in
areas that would not be their first choice let alone the Championship Managers among us. The reason
for this has generally been a lack of depth in the squad exacerbated by the perennial injury
problems that have depleted us so cruelly at vital times.
6 games, 6 wins. 20 goals scored, 1 conceded. That was the month of October for Real, very
probably the best European team right now.
They beat Lyon in Bernabeu 4-0 two weeks ago, and we haven't changed that much since then:
Lisandro is still missing, as are Grenier and Pied.
THFC1882 welcome's back Rob with a guest preview of Sundays game, keep an eye
out for his match report too!
Sunday 30th October 2011, White Hart Lane. 4pm Kick off Live on Sky Sports 1HD,1 and in 3D
The mighty Lilywhites take on their West London rivals, QPR, at the Lane on Sunday a day before
Halloween, hoping to continue to give Spurs fans a treat rather than trick.
Having just returned to the playing field again with Manchester City after serving his
six-months suspension due to failing a drug test, Kolo Toure apparently has picked up an interest
to play with another team instead.
In an interview with RMC Sport recently, Toure stated that he is tempted to play for Paris
St.
