By Alan Duffy
Norwich City 0-0 Chelsea Premier League 21 January 2012
Chelsea failed to make much ground on third-placed Tottenham at Carrow Road on Saturday, after
playing out a rather disappointing goalless draw with Norwich City.
Quite a transfer coup for Newcastle with the signing of £10 million pound number 9 Papiss Demba
Cisse from German side Freiburg. The Senegalese striker will wear the famous shirt, as worn by
previous Newcastle legends Alan Shearer, Jackie Milburn and Malcolm Macdonald. He will make up half
of a potentially lethal strikeforce alongside Newcastle's other top striker, also from Senegal,
Demba Ba.
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain would be an ideal January signing for Liverpool, according to
former Anfield star John Barnes.
The Reds have been tipped to reinforce their goalscoring department during the transfer window,
having found the net only 18 times in as many league outings so far this season.
Kenny: I trust them implicitly
Kenny Dalglish has reiterated his unwavering belief that Liverpool's strikeforce are on the
verge of a goal-fest.
View the full story here: Liverpool FC
A news article on 2011-12-12 09:43:17 from: Liverpool FC
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
The Philadelphia Union added a young, promising attacking piece on Wednesday by acquiring
21-year-old Costa Rican forward Josue Martinez from CD Saprissa.
Martinez brings a strong pedigree and attacking flair to the Union, where he joins a strikeforce
that boasts other up-and-comers Danny Mwanga and Jack McInerney in addition to stalwart Sebastien
Le Toux.
Video highlights and reaction match report -
So Carling Cup defeat last night, and late defeat at that, but the overwhelming sense I have
this morning is that of team that deserved more. Arsenal's youngsters, combined with some
experience, more than held their own against the most expensively assembled squad in modern
football.
HUFC's skipper Shi Jiayi hoisted the CupIt was indeed a hard fought triumph for Home United who
with the win over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) had claimed the accolade being the most successful
Singapore Cup side with their fifth record win.
Cautious play from both sides dominated much of the play with Albirex stroking the ball around the
park with possessive tactics that failed to shackle the rock solid defence line of Rosman Sulaiman,
Kenji Arai and man-of-the-match, Valery Hiek.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres left Anfield under a cloud of bitter fan resentment in January, and
since then, the anger and acrimony towards him seems to have grown exponentially. You would think
that El Nino would be the last person Liverpool fans would want to see back at the club, but it
seems that the same fans who burned Torres' shirt would love to see him back at the club.
By AVI CREDITOR
The Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew have taken different roads to get to this point, but
ultimately they're right back where they were a year ago.
Colorado eliminated Columbus in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season en route to
capturing its first MLS Cup.
THFC1882′s Stuart Watts presents guest writer Ciaran Griggs match report from Thursday....
"Their best defender was the crossbar..."
Spurs: Cudicini, Walker, Corluka, Bassong, Rose, Lennon, Livermore, Carroll, Dos Santos, Defoe,
Pavulychenko (Subs – Townsend for Lennon, Falque for Defoe, Kane for Rose)
Here's one I wrote earlier.
How's your luck? Jack Wilshere will be sidelined for up to five months after an op to fix a
fracture to his right ankle. Another Arsenal player out injured for a lengthy period. Isn't it time
we drafted in some sort of witch doctor to treat our players or perhaps try to lift the curse of
the crocked?
Photo courtesy of West Virginia media relations
By AVI CREDITOR
Remember the name Eric Schoenle. Opposing forwards have a hard time forgetting it.
Like top college centerbacks Tim Ream and A.J. Soares before him, Schoenle (pronounced
SHANE-lee), West Virginia's junior centerback is emerging as a top prospect and has the technical
and physical tools that should translate to professional success.
Don't panic! City's super strikeforce will come good in Europe
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the reduced attendance at Eastlands last night, was that
people weren't desperate to see this City side. Ignoring the team on the pitch for a second, the
list of players in reserve would be enough to get the fans of most Premier League teams
excited.
The 2011-2012 Champions League Group Stage is underway, with Matchday 1 halfway done. Eight
matches in the books yesterday, eight more matches coming up later today.
See below for yesterday's results the most surprising that Barcelona and Milan drew in the Camp
Nou; below that are today's fixtures with our preview notes (including a preview of Benfica-ManU
sent in Jon Novy):
Tues 13 September 2011 Results
Group E: Chelsea 2 0 Leverkusen; Genk 0 0 Valencia
Group F: Olympiacos 0 1 Marseille; Dortmund 1 1 Arsenal
Group G: Porto 2 1 Shakhtar Donetsk; APOEL 2 1 Zenit
Group H: Barcelona 2 2 Milan; Plzeň 1 1 BATE
Wed 14 September 2011 Fixtures & Notes
Group A: This is the proverbial Group of Death.
Craig Bellamy says that Kenny Dalglish was the main reason why he decided to return to
Liverpool.
"I've grown up with Kenny Dalglish, now to be signed by him is a massive honour" said Bellamy.
"This is an exciting time. When Kenny took over, watching as a fan last season I got the buzz as
well and it was great to see Liverpool end the season well.
Two matches in and there are already a few things we know about the Premiership.
1 The second best team in the Premiership is Manchester United reserves
2 It is not going to be a good season for north London clubs
3 City's Aguero is going to be brilliant but alas not in every game
4 Steve Kean has got two more matches to get a few points or else those chickens will come home
to roost.
Liverpool's Strikeforce: Luis Suarez & Andy Carroll
I should have spent more time on Sunderland in my preview of their match versus Liverpool, but I
didn't want to make it a season preview. They definitely need to add attacking options and put a
leash on Lee Cattermole. But Stéphane Sessègnon is impressive; Ahmed Elmohamady, Kieran
Richardson & Gyan are all big factors, and their back line was well organized, essentially making
Andy Carroll irrelevant.
With Robbie Keane on his way to LA Galaxy THFC1882′s Rob Handworker takes a look back on the
strikers Spurs career.
On signing him for Tottenham from Leeds Utd in 2002, our manager the God Glenn Hoddle said
that Keane was ideally suited to Tottenham and could make White Hart Lane his "spiritual home" for
years to come.
With good reason football has rather taken a back seat over here on the Small Isles this week,
as certain residents do their best to post the country up the river in a smashed up, burning pile
of dog turd. It's the Last Days of Rome. Only the currency these Luddites are dealing in is
electrical goods and irrevocable bouts of stupidity.
When the rumour that Berbatov's departure from Old Trafford was imminent took flight,
we witnessed perhaps the biggest love-in that the striker has had since he joined the club. It was
so great that you wondered whether Berbatov had hauled us to the title single-handedly, and felt a
bit sorry for James Collins.
It is hard to imagine that in seven days time the first game of the new season will have taken
place. There is a remarkably strange feeling about at the moment.
Possibly that feeling is down to Arsenal looking no better than at the tail end of last season
and there being only minute changes in the playing staff.
Hey, remember these? A rough patch of buying one house and selling another sort of cut into my
scouting report time, so you had to watch this last month or so of games unscouted. Unless you were
getting reports from that Arlo guy, I guess. And for a while there the Sounders were winning every
game I wasn't scouting, which was a welcome but slightly concerning trend until that egg in Houston
last week.
Redknapp looking to bolster strikeforce as season as season approaches
After weeks of very little activity, there looks to be some big signings around the corner for
Harry Redknapp's Tottenham Hotspur as the North London club go in search of Champions League
football once more next season.
Redknapp looking to bolster strikeforce as season as season approaches
After weeks of very little activity, there looks to be some big signings around the corner for
Harry Redknapp's Tottenham Hotspur as the North London club go in search of Champions League
football once more next season.
There has been many a discussion post season as to why we finished in fifth spot in the league
last season, when many, myself included, thought that fourth should have been a definite and maybe
even second or third was a real possibility.
Some of the post mortem debates have been;
Was it the lack of goals from the strikeforce and the fact we didn't strengthen this area in the
January transfer window?
It has been a topsy-turvy season in the K-League so far. Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma have
been kept off the bottom of the standings only thanks to the dreadful form of Gangwon FC. Suwon
Bluewings find themselves in one of their annual slumps in form while champions FC Seoul have
improved since earlier in the season but still can't quite break free of the middle level.
After Liverpool FC have reportedly made an £8million bid for Ipswich striker Connor Wickham,
we've found a few videos of the 18 year old forward in action, so sit back and check out the next
possible addition to our strikeforce.
read more
Internacional President Giovani Luigi has confirmed that they have received a concrete offer
from Spurs of €12m for national team striker Leandro Damiao.
"It was the first concrete offer that we have had. I said I do not want to sell right now, but I
think they will come back again with a new proposal soon.
Thumbs up if you'd probably score more goals than CrouchUltimately, it all comes down to goals. In
2009/10, we scored a lot of them and were able to finish fourth as a result. In 2010/11, we
couldn't hit the proverbial barn door with a banjo. End result? No fourth place.
Disappointment.
So it seems that this area of our game is the one that is in most urgent need of reform.
Liverpool are preparing to table a summer bid for highly rated Wolfsburg playmaker Diego in a deal
that has been labelled as the potential bargain of the summer according to The Sun.
The 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder has been valued at €10million by the Bundesliga outfit, as
Diego looks set to depart Germany after a solitary season.
As I'm sure everyone is well aware the Premier League is jam packed with foreigners from all
corners of the globe. This practice has filtered down to the lower leagues, so I thought I'd begin
a series on foreign XIs in the Football League with this one on "Scandanavian" players in the
Championship.
By Darshan Joshi, writing from Kuala Lumpur
It was a game of fine margins. It started off according to script... or not. Sandro's glorious
half-volley, from well out of the penalty area after some good work by Rafael van der Vaart, rifled
itself past Petr Cech, who did well to get a few fingers on the ball.
Villarreal have progressed to the Europa League semi-finals after dispatching Dutch side FC Twente
ruthlessly 8-2 on aggregate, setting up a mouthwatering tie against newly crowned Portuguese
champions Porto. Juan Carlos Garrido's team are on the up; they sit fourth in the La Liga standings
and are on the verge of competing in the Champions League again, a competition they reached the
last four in back in 2005-06.
After former Spurs target Giuseppe Rossi ruled him out of any possible move at the weekend, more
names are coming up as possible replacements for some of Tottenham's wayward strikeforce. The
latest in this long line is Amauri, a Brazilian born striker who plays his football in Italy and
has gained one full cap for the Italian national side.
About 18 months ago it looked like Gombak United would be the team to break the stranglehold SAFFC
had on the SLeague. They boasted the best defence with Bah Mamadou and Obadin at the heart while
also boasting the most potent strikeforce in the country.
Agu Casmir headed to Persija in Indonesia, Kingsley Njokou has ended up with Phnom Penh Crown in
Cambodia while Gabriel Obatola is now with Pattaya United in the Thai Premier League after a spell
in the US with Portland Tomberwolves.
Liverpool will make an audacious bid to sign Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon this summer for
£15million.
Reds' manager Kenny Dalglish is desperate to sign players to give his side more natural width and
supply the new strikeforce of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.
He sees the 23-year-old as the ideal signing as his pace would be a great quality in the Scot's
view of playing a counter-attacking style.
Skysports.com understands Liverpool have agreed a pre-contract to sign Rennes midfielder Sylvain
Marveaux.
Marveaux, who is out of contract at Rennes at the end of the season, has been a long-term target
for the Reds.
Rennes are resigned to losing the 24-year-old when his contract expires and Liverpool are thought
to have agreed a deal to bring Marveaux to Anfield.
Raul Meireles can't wait to see Liverpool's new strikeforce in action when Andy Carroll and Luis
Suarez are available to start matches together.
The Portuguese midfielder has been hitting the back of the net regularly himself in recent weeks
but he believes the Carroll/Suarez partnership is a recipe for goals.
One of the major concerns about Chelsea these past seasons have been the ageing of their senior
players. Drogba, Lampard and Terry are all above 30 years old. These stalwarts have been the
backbone of the most successful Chelsea side in the club's history.
The rebuilding process have started with the buying spree in January.
The phenomenon that is 'A Clockwork Orange' (for it would do it massive injustice to simply call
it a book or a movie) is very interesting when viewed through the prism of modern sport. It deals
with a protagonist, who enjoys violence, gets into fights for fun and is completely unapologetic
through it all.
