Posts Tagged Soccer
Two match ban for Arsenal striker
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Miscellaneous on September 2, 2009
It was confirmed yesterday that Eduardo will now face a two match ban by UEFA. This ban comes following an alleged dive during last week’s UEFA Champions League match against Celtic.
Arsenal will now have three business days to appeal against UEFA’s decision to ban Eduardo from the next two Champions League matches against Standard Liege and Olympiakos. A statement on the club’s official website reads:
““We have been deeply frustrated by the perfunctory and apparently arbitrary process that Uefa has followed in this instance. We believe it is imperative that Uefa’s explanation for its decision provides clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced. It is also critical that Uefa provides specific details of the processes it plans to adopt in reviewing all games under its jurisdiction.”
Champions League Draw
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Miscellaneous on August 27, 2009
UEFA draw in Monaco
Europe’s biggest competition is finally getting started. Today’s draw brought some intriguing, yet obvious, matches. The groups and fixture dates will be as follows:
Group A:Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa.
Group B:Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg.
Group C:AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich.
Group D:Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL Nicosia.
Group E:Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni.
Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan.
Group G:Sevilla, Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni.
Group H:Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege.
Contenders really?
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Miscellaneous on August 17, 2009
So the first weekend in the Premiership has finished and what a weekend. There were no draws and plenty of goals! But as always there were some shockers. And those “shockers” put a little dent in some clubs’ plans.
So who were those teams again that wanted to break into the top four again? Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Manchester City right? Well Manchester City did play well, so we can take them seriously for a week. But Everton?! What happened?! Yes Arsenal played well and scored 6 goals on them, but you have to look at Everton. They lacked defense. And poor Aston Villa -their hopes keep getting smashed. Reo Coker wanting to leave; Stuart Downing now out till November; top four finish, maybe a bit ambitious now.
The Premiership is Back!!
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Miscellaneous on August 13, 2009
It is official, soccer season is back! And so comes the drama and passion. With the transfer window coming to a close we’ve seen big players move – like Cristiano Ronaldo going to Real Madrid for $160 million (drastically over priced btw). But how will that effect last year’s champions Manchester United this season? And will Liverpool finally cross that finish line as champions?
Several people have come out and said that there are 7 or 8 teams that can compete for the top four position, citing Everton, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham with the regular top four. But realistically the top four will be better. These teams will be fighting for the UEFA position rather than the Champions League. People who say that are hoping for a change probably won’t get one. Don’t get me wrong, these teams made excellent buys over the summer, but they do not have the experience, the squad size or managerial competence to get the extra mile they all need. Look at Manchester City, with all that money and potential, they still have a manager in Mark Hughes who has NO experience in high level competition. If they want to compete in the top four they need a manager. Big players will not come to a club with a mediocre managerial staff. No matter how much money you throw at them – remember Kaka? And then there is Aston Villa. In this case they have a manager, but where is the squad?
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