Thursday 2 December 2010

Chelsea

After half a dozen games this season Chelsea were runaway leaders having barely conceded a goal and scoring for fun.

However a couple of injuries later namely to their midfield talisman Frank Lampard and captain John Terry, coupled with Michael Essiens suspension, and all of a sudden the squad doesn't look that strong.

The bench they had against Sunderland was decidedly weak compared to their first XI. Here in lies their problem this season. Whilst the starters are in the world class category, for me the squad overall is not strong enough over what will be a 60 game season.

They offloaded Joe Cole, Deco, Ballack and Belletti in the summer and whilst they may not have been regulars they are superb options as part of a squad.

The league will be very tight but as always I think the team with the strongest squad will win. At present I do not see this being Chelsea...

Tuesday 8 December 2009

United injuries?

What the fuck is going on at United . We've got so many injured defenders that Evra and Gill (son of our Chief Executive) are the only two recognized defenders that have gone to Germany for tonights Champions League match.

Can someone please tell me why we've got so many problems with injured defenders?

Is it a training method?
Is It the defensive coaches?

What's your views?

Monday 7 December 2009

Captain Rooney

Just a quick question:

Has Rooney got what it takes to be the next United and England captain?

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City

Arsenal got back to winning ways with a comfortable two-nil victory over a tough and disciplined Stoke unit. Goals from Andrey Arshavin in the first half and a nice second half strike from Ramsey were enough to seal the victory. A first half penalty miss from Fabregas had a lot of fans thinking ‘here we go again’.

The same old Wenger philosophy of walking the ball into the net was beginning to frustrate until a lovely bit of movement and fine finish from Arshavin opened the scoring. Before the game Arshavin was talking about how the squad is too small and not good enough in the aftermath of the Chelsea result. How he can make those size related comments as he stands at a giant 5 foot nothing is beyond me. Not to mention his performances of late have been lacklustre to say the least!

As the game wore on Arsenal had plenty of the ball but failed to find the net. Nerves were starting to jangle in the stands as so many times Arsenal have been on top and in control only to concede a sloppy goal and drop points. Fortunately for Arsenal they have made an immense signing in the Belgian centre-half Thomas Vermaelen. He was like a rock all day long – so calm under pressure and a snip at £10 million when you look at the likes of Joleon Lescott who City paid a bank breaking £24million for.

It was substitute Aaron Ramsey who netted the second with ten minutes remaining. Playing a neat on-two with Arshavin before finishing sweetly with the outside of his right foot. This young welsh lad has impressed and whenever he’s come on he seems to add something to the side. Of course being 18 he will have an element of inconsistency to his game as we saw against Sunderland, but he can compete in the Premiership no question. He looks physically ready, has excellent control and vision and the added extra of not being afraid to shoot.

Up next in the Premier League for Arsenal is a trip to Anfield, but before then a flight to Greece to take on Olympiacos. I expect Wenger to field a largely second string side. The injury situation has worsened, with Eboue, Traore and Gallas all picking up knock but hopefully they’ll recover in time for the Liverpool clash.

Mike & Kev

Sunday 6 December 2009

United Injury woes intensify

United’s desperate defensive injury problems were only heightened at Upton Park - the term 'down to the bare bones' barely does the situation justice.

Along with Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea, Jonny Evans, Rafael and Fabio all missed Saturday’s 4-0 win over West Ham, while Gary Neville and Wes Brown were forced off during the match to add to an already depleted rearguard.

“Losing defenders the way we are doing at the moment is a bit of a headache to us,” admitted the boss. “Nemanja Vidic was out with flu, meaning we had to put Gary Neville at centre-back and then he goes off after half an hour. Then Wes Brown came off at the end.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get a back four together for Tuesday. I’m hoping Nemanja will be OK and I will probably play Michael Carrick with him in defence.”

Do United need to start seriously thinking about signing a defender? They do have a number of decent of defenders but this injurie problem seems to be ongoing. There has also been worrying reports of Nemanja Vidic being unsettled at the club and possibly moving on, which would be a huge loss to the club.

Manchester United are reportedly lining up an £11m bid for defender Simon Kjaer. The Danish international has emerged as a target to replace Nemanja Vidic should he leave the club. The Serbian defender has 18 months to run on his contract and if talks break down it would appear likely he would be sold in the summer to cash in before his contract runs down. I personally think that its all paper talk and he's going nowhere and a new deal will be made.

Other linked defenders are:

Micah Richards from Man City
Gary Cahill from Bolton
Maicon from Inter
Jamie Richards from Plymouth Argyle

The question is do we need to buy or not? And who is the man/men for the jobs?

Mike & Kev

Saturday 5 December 2009

World cup groups

England’s World Cup hopes have been handed a boost with a favourable draw for next summer’s finals after being paired with the USA, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.

Fabio Capello and his players will be delighted with the result having avoided a potential ‘Group of Death’ involving the Ivory Coast and either France or Portugal and will be kicking off their campaign against the USA in Rustenburg on June 12.
They face Algeria in their second game before completing their round of group fixtures with a clash against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on June 23.
The toughest groups thrown up by Friday evening’s draw are Group D consisting of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana, and Group G, the ‘Group of Death’, which pits favourites Brazil against North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Capello will demand a first-place finish and the fans expect it. Victory over the USA in the opening group game should send England comfortably on their way to the latter stages.
Following an impressive Confederations Cup in the summer, the USA should possess enough experience and ability to see off Algeria. Slovenia may prove a tougher task having overcome Russia in the play-offs on away goals to qualify for the finals

Below are the groups:

FIFA World Cup : Group A Table
1 France
2 Mexico
3 South Africa
4 Uruguay

FIFA World Cup : Group B Table
1 Argentina
2 Greece
3 Nigeria
4 South Korea

FIFA World Cup : Group C Table
1 Algeria
2 England
3 Slovenia
4 USA
FIFA World Cup : Group D Table
1 Australia
2 Germany
3 Ghana
4 Serbia

FIFA World Cup : Group E Table
1 Cameroon
2 Denmark
3 Netherlands
4 Japan

FIFA World Cup : Group F Table
1 Italy
2 New Zealand
3 Paraguay
4 Slovakia

FIFA World Cup : Group G Table
1 Brazil
2 Ivory Coast
3 Korea DPR
4 Portugal

FIFA World Cup : Group H Table
1 Chile
2 Honduras
3 Spain
4 Switzerland

Let us know your views

Thursday 3 December 2009

Macheda signs new deal

Good news for the United fans:

Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed a new four year contract extension with Federico Macheda that will see him at the club until at least June 2014.

Sir Alex Ferguson said:

“We are delighted by the new four year deal, everyone at the club recognises the fantastic talent he has and we hope to see that develop in the next years, so he becomes a well rounded player”

Federico Macheda said:

“I am very happy to commit my future to Manchester United. I really enjoyed myself last season when I came on and I hope to get more chances like that and contribute to the team’s success."

I'm personally well happy with this deal, I've followed this lad since the beginning of the 07/08 season and he really is the style of striker I like. He also has been playing reserve team football alongside Welbeck and they've struck up a good partnership which they hopefully can take into the first team in the foreseeable future.

Mike