Archive for category Soccer
Blues on top; but can they stay there?
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on November 2, 2009
Chelsea's Drogba celebrating
Chelsea kept the top spot in a remarkable fashion, but in this crazy Premiership season can one team manage to be constant?
Manchester City a real threat?
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on September 30, 2009
Manchester City midfielder Robinho
With one game in hand and only three points behind the leaders, United, is it time we take City seriously?
I’m not saying for everyone to polish up the Premiership trophy just yet for them, but we would be wrong to dismiss them so easily right now. With Arsenal not playing their best football, it is possible for City to get into the top four. They have already three points over the Gunners with their win earlier in the season.
The Premiership has been busy
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on September 24, 2009
So I’ve been away on vacation for 2 weeks and things changed in the premiership- well not too much. Just a team’s dream of top four flight being dashed, players being stepped on, and referees not knowing the difference between the numbers four and six.
Tottenham after starting out so well have now gone to a more normal position – out of the top four. And I don’t really see them going back. The North Londoners don’t have what it takes. Harsh? All of their central defenders keep getting injured. And they couldn’t compete with a Manchester United team who were down to ten men. On the contrary THEY looked like the team with ten men. Read the rest of this entry »
One year transfer ban for Chelsea, but will Manchester join them?
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on September 11, 2009
Gael Kakuta in action
I’ve got a lot of flak for my last article. Even though no one has proved me wrong, but anyways. A lot of people have complained that I slam United and Liverpool too much and not Chelsea. Well until now there was no reason. Now there is….
Business as usual
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on September 3, 2009
Two clubs destined for greatness at the beginning of the season. But Manchester United and Liverpool find themselves struggling, while both Chelsea and Arsenal seem to be on the right track. Both London teams have won every game until last weekend and were gaining momentum. Some did say the Premiership fight was going to be in London. But that was when people forgot about the referees.
Two match ban for Arsenal striker
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer 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.”
Divers Beware
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer on August 31, 2009
After years of threatening, UEFA are taking action against the ugly side of football – diving. Arsenal’s striker, Eduardo fell too easily in the penalty area mid week and was granted a weak penalty. UEFA have now charged the striker with “intent to deceive the referee.” And now the Gunner frontman awaits his penalty – a punishment that can include suspension for two matches.
Arsene Wenger of course is not happy. The Frenchman told the media that:
“I find it a complete disgrace and not acceptable. We will not accept the way Uefa treated this case. Having seen the television again nothing is conclusive from that and it singles out a player in Europe to be a cheat and that is not acceptable. I have seen some obvious cases where Uefa didn’t intervene and that is on and off the pitch. Things have happened in Europe on and off the pitch where Fifa did not act at all.”
Champions League Draw
Posted by Jacquie Franciulli in Soccer 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 Soccer 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 Soccer 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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