After last night's 1-0 victory against Man City at the Etihad, it's advantage Liverpool in the race for Carling Cup final place. Liverpool legend Steve Nicol was delighted with the win, but believes that tiredness may have had something to do with the below-par nature of Man City's performance.

There has been plenty of hype surrounding Tom Cleverley over the past year or two which reached a climax this summer once Paul Scholes announced his retirement. Cleverley was tipped by plenty to be the successor to one of the most gifted midfielders this country has ever seen.

Fortunately for the lad, and for the team, Cleverley dealt with the expectation well, and confirmed his place in the starting XI at the start of the season.

There has been plenty of hype surrounding Tom Cleverley over the past year or two which reached a climax this summer once Paul Scholes announced his retirement. Cleverley was tipped by plenty to be the successor to one of the most gifted midfielders this country has ever seen.

Fortunately for the lad, and for the team, Cleverley dealt with the expectation well, and confirmed his place in the starting XI at the start of the season.

Debatable decisions from an otherwise horrible refereeing

In the two games that we've played Fulham this season, we've only managed to garner 1 point. For a club with ambitions of winning trophies and finishing as high up the league table as possible, that is simply not good enough. With Chelsea winning their match before the start of ours, it was imperative for us to match their result to maintain our 4th spot in the league.

I don't know what the tiredness equivalent of what *boilk* is but I've got that this morning.

Plus a touch of actual *boilk* too but not enough to actually make me *boilk*. Last night at The Tollington we launched the book So Paddy got up an Arsenal anthology, and first and foremost I want to thank all the people who came along, bought a book and had a beer or two.

Enrique Tiredness no excuse

Jose Enrique insists playing twice in 48 hours can be no excuse if Liverpool are knocked out of the Carling Cup by Chelsea.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-11-28 15:53:57 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

By 1970"s GoonerFor the first reason I would agree with Wenger. The team did look jaded. Tiredness was very apparent to me especially in the second half where some of the players' energy did begin to fail them. One example was Song who was replaced in midfield by Diaby and also Ramsey who was not himself yesterday.

This wasn't the kind of game that I wanted to watch at midnight after an immensely enjoyable day with friends and their families who are visiting us for the holidays. And I get no joy in typing this report at quarter past two in the night but writing can also be cathartic at times and that's just what I am hoping to achieve.

Arsène Wenger divisively left Robin Van Persie out of the starting line-up against Marseille, looking for Park to score the goals instead. Of the change, the manager said, "The reason I left Robin out was physical tiredness that's all. He would have to play 50 matches a year. He cannot play 50 games.

Arsene Wenger has admitted that his decision to start Robin Van Persie on the bench in last night's Champions League fixture against Marseille did not pay off. The Gunners resulting barren draw means that they will have to win their last 2 matches if they are to qualify for the knockout stages without a hitch.

Match Preview: Stoke City vs Liverpool

Liverpool take the latest step in their Carling Cup campaign tonight when they face the tough challenge of defeating Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. Having already faced two away trips in the competition, first against Exeter, then Brighton, the Reds make the much shorter journey to Stoke in hope of their first win on the Potters' territory since they were promoted to the Premier League.

Terry: England cannot use tiredness as an excuse

"The problem is not about playing too much during the season," says Three Lions skipper

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-09 21:26:45 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Ben Arfa oozes class and on his first time out last night for Newcastle since July, he again looked a sublime player in the black and white shirt. Ben Arfa in action last night Ben Arfa was replaced after 70 minutes in the 4-3 win last night at the City Ground, when Alan Pardew saw a little tiredness coming into his game, which is hardly surprising [.

When it was first announced, not many would have thought an Arsenal V Shrewsbury tie in the third round of the Carling Cup will take on such significance. I shudder at the thought of elimination but given the recent form, and with the team finding new ways of gifting goals, it's not too hard to imagine.

It's difficult to be positive following a three nil defeat to team deprived of its star centre backs, and with an average age of twenty-three, but I guess as a Spurs fan I should have known better than to expect anything different.

I honestly believed we could take our Europa league form to Old Trafford, expose their young defenders lack of experience, and put an end to our twenty-two years without a win.

Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers maintained their perfect starts to the season while Stoke City could only manage a draw against Norwich City.

Roberto Mancini's side took the lead after 26 minutes away to Bolton thanx to David Silva's fine shot from outside the penalty box.

Here we are; first home game of the new season and the second of the five massive fixtures this month.

The start wasn't as good as one would have liked but it wasn't as bad as many had feared either. Things could be a lot worse than a hard fought draw in the opening game away from home which included a strong defensive performance.

Kenny Dalglish left confused as Sunderland's Kieran Richardson escapes red card at Liverpool

Scot also concedes that a draw against Black Cats was a fair result and blames tiredness and integration of new signings as reason for second-half slump

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-08-13 17:54:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Arsene Wenger saw his Arsenal team surrender a two goal lead in yesterdays Emirates Cup game against Boca, but put the collapse down to tiredness after the first hour of play. Wenger said: "You never want to concede goals, but overall I do not give too much importance to that. What is important for us [.

The U.S. (and New Zealand) packed up everything and traveled together today from Torreon to Pachuca via Mexico City. If you've ever wondered how more than 100 pieces of luggage and 35 people move from city to city in the middle of a tournament, here's a quick look at what a travel day looks like:
9 a.

Regular guest blogger Richard Smith doesn't pull any punches with his appraisal the current state of the senior squad we'll have a preview of the Under 21s posted on Saturday morning.

The situation in the England football camp appears to be worsening by the day with manager, Fabio Capello, coming under increasing pressure, more so than he has ever known before.

Which scenario will pan out?

Am attempting to start on the season review but still gathering my thoughts about it. Instead, let's look at the Arsenal related news that has been going around.

Arsene Wenger is still sorting out contract talks with Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Both players are entering the final year in their contract and are able to leave on a free next year if we don't tie them up soon.

As we draw towards the close of another Premiership season, I wanted to offer a few random thoughts about how things have played out and, of course, a view on Tottenham Hotspur's year.

Tottenham's year

One of the things that has been creeping into conversations I have had recently with fellow Spurs fans, is the desire to avoid being in the Europa League next season, preferring to miss out on Europe all together.

If 90 minutes of football could encapsulate an entire domestic season for a football club, then the 1-1 draw on Saturday at home to Blackpool was it. We went into the game with many fans looking forward to a convincing win. Even someone like me, with my half empty glass thought we were due a home game where goals would flow and we'd get a relatively easy victory.

Match highlights of the game. I will endeavour to update these with longer ones when they are available. Alan Pardew say that he is "satisfied" with a point under the circustances blaming tiredness after the performance against Manchester United on Tuesday evening for a certain "flatness" in the team.

In less than 24 hours the pole position of the league standings changes three times in the Round 6 of the 2010 S.League campaign.
Prior to the "Uniform Derby" at CCK, Home United were holding that position on top of their unbeaten 25-game unbeaten run, only to see that record shattered by their arch-rivals, SAFFC with their former protege, Indra Sahdan Daud playing a pivotal role in created and scoring a goal along the way to place the Warriors at the top for the first time this year.

Spurs fans have made the trip to Madrid as their side test their mettle against Real tonight in arguably the biggest night in the club's history.

Yet despite the Champions League novices continuing to surprise many with their accomplished performances, the main worry for the North Londoners is whether they can replicate their fourth placed finish last season.

Goals: Klose (3'), Müller (25'), Müller (43'), Klose (88')

I don't have time at all to write an in depth review, and I'm not sure this match merits it anyway. Three goals off set pieces, one late tap-in from Klose, and a solid win, done and dusted. There was some tiredness, some complacency.

No Zlatan no party: AC Milan need a Plan B is a post from: Just Football

Zlatan Ibrahimović's act of stupidity during Milan's game against Bari on Sunday – striking Marco Rossi in the stomach – has cost his team the luxury of his services for three games, including the all-important Milan derby clash.

Carlos Tevez was been dropped from Argentina team to play against Portugal in Geneva tonight over a question of attitude, according to Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona.

"I think Tevez's absence is because of an attitude he had when he didn't come to play (against Brazil in November) and then did so for his club.

Having already promoting promises of their maturity this season, Arsenal, once again left some question mark for their fans' hopes after the Gunners surprisingly suffered a 1-0 in the Carling Cup against Ipswich Town, despite fielding a pretty strong squad.

One of the cause of the defeat is being placed in the defensive department as with many injuries facing their main defenders, the substitutes' quality seemed far behind.

Having already promoting promises of their maturity this season, Arsenal, once again left some question mark for their fans' hopes after the Gunners surprisingly suffered a 1-0 in the Carling Cup against Ipswich Town, despite fielding a pretty strong squad.

One of the cause of the defeat is being placed in the defensive department as with many injuries facing their main defenders, the substitutes' quality seemed far behind.

First

Will return to the bench for today

off, happy new year 2011 to all of you. It's been a wonderful 2010 and long may that continue this year. Except maybe to cut down on the disappointments and perhaps see Arsenal lifting trophies once again. Hope I find you well even after you day/night out partying, but for our players, there's another match to contend with today.