by John Brandon on August 31, 2010
Rewind to July 2 and Asamoah Gyan scored three goals in four games in the World Cup. Winning a standing ovation in his sides match against Serbia. In the quarter final against Uruguay he then stepped up and fluffed a chance to write himself and Ghana in to record books as the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi final.
Many men would have hidden, simply sulked, felt sorry for themselves and seeked refuge in the warmth and comfort of his sides dressing room. Not Gyan he continued to battle on and took his sides first penalty in the shoot out and cooly slotted home in to the top corner to put his country a step closer to history. Obviously it didn’t happen but Gyan was making people stand up and take notice of his undoubted potential. Read more... (302 words, 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)
by David Wilson on August 27, 2010
Manchester City face a tough test in the Europa League group stages after they were drawn with Juventus. As well as the Italian giants, Roberto Mancini’s team also face Salzburg of Austria and Lech Poznan of Poland.
Liverpool had an unkind draw too, the Reds put into Group K along with Romania’s Steaua Bucharest, Italy’s Napoli and Utrecht of the Netherlands.
The draw saw the 48 clubs divided into 12 groups of four teams, with the top two from each set progressing.
Group J also looks extremely competitive, with Sevilla, Paris Saint Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Karpaty Lviv all competing for the top two places. Read more... (321 words, 1 image, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
by David Wilson on August 26, 2010
Today’s Champions Leagye draw set up another Battle of Britain and will see Kaka return to the San Siro against AC Milan.
Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham, who secured their first appearance in the Champions League group stage with yesterday’s 4-0 win over Young Boys, were rewarded with a place in Group A alongside Italian holders Inter Milan, Germany’s Werder Bremen and Steve McClaren’s former club FC Twente.
Chelsea, among the top seeds, were matched with Didier Drogb’s fomer club France’s Marseille, Russia’s Spartak Moscow and Slovakia’s MSK Zilina in Group F.
Arsenal, meanwhile, appeared to have the most straightforward assignment after drawing Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga of Portugal and Serbian outfit Partizan Belgrade in Group H. Read more... (886 words, 1 image, estimated 3:33 mins reading time)
by David Wilson on August 17, 2010
Tottenham came from three goals down in a 3-2 Champions League play-off first-round defeat to Young Boys of Bern at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf.
Helped by some dreadful Spurs defending Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvenu and Xavier Hochstrasser gave Young Boys a shock 3-0 lead. But Spurs fought back to earn two vital away goals – a header from Sebastien Bassong and a great shot from Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Spurs have to count themselves incredibly lucky to still be in this tie. They were terrible defensively all game, not just in the first 30 minutes when Young Boys ripped them to shreds. Read more... (447 words, 2 images, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)
by David Wilson on August 5, 2010
Tottenham have been given good news in that they will be one of the seeded teams for Friday’s Champions League play-off draw.
Spurs have five possible unseeded opponents in the draw: Sampdoria, Dynamo Kiev, Auxerre, Braga or Swiss side Young Boys.
Sampdoria, who finished fourth in Italy’s Serie A last season, and Ukrainian league runners-up Dynamo Kiev would appear to be the most challenging of Tottenham’s possible opponents.
Sampdoria have a new coach in Domenico Di Carlo and players of renown such as former Real Madrid striker Antonio Cassano. Former Spurs defender Reto Ziegler is also a first-team regular. Read more... (215 words, 1 image, estimated 52 secs reading time)
by Damian Cooper on July 30, 2010
How convincing was Arsene Wenger in his press conference today when asked about Cesc Fabregas‘ future? I for one believe he will be at Arsenal at least until January, but the Arsenal boss pointed towards a contract that still had more than five years to run. Is that really worth the paper it is written on? Read more... (438 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on July 29, 2010
Roy Hodgson sent out his side for their first competitve game of his tenure tonight. The red-half of Liverpool came back down to Earth with a bang, as they travelled to play FK Rabotnicki. You know, FK Rabotnicki, that Macedonian powerhouse of a side. No okay, I hadn’t heard of them either, but none of that matters as Liverpool swept them aside thanks to two goals from forgotten front man David Ngog. The French youngster scored in both halves to give Liverpool a comfortable away win in the Europa League Qualifying match. A win that should see them set-up to finish the job at Anfield in the second-leg. Read more... (455 words, 1 image, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on July 27, 2010
After a season in the wilderness under Tony Mowbray, could Celtic be on their way back? And when I say on their way back, I don’t just mean in the SPL, I mean as a competitve force in Europe. Neil Lennon took over at the end of March and his side won all eight of their remaining league games to finish just six points off fierce rivals Rangers. Lennon clearly has something the players like, as they played out the season for him full of committment. Lennon was a hard nosed but fair player, who is remembered as a typically no nonsense British midfielder. Well maybe taking no nonsense is what has turned the Green half of Glasgow around, but then Mowbray was no Mr Nice Guy. Read more... (497 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on July 25, 2010
You may not have noticed, but the Uefa Champions League is already under way with the third qualifying round scheduled for the coming weeks. In the draw are some teams that have made a big splash in the European competitions of the past.
Celtic were the first ever British winners of the famous trophy. The team that brought the title home from Portugal are known as the Lisbon Lions. Defeated by Jock Stein’s Celtic in the Estadio Nacional that day were current champions Inter Milan. Every one of the starting line-up for the hoops in Lisbon was born on home soil, something that we will never see again. Celtic take on Braga in the third qualifying round this week. Read more... (452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on July 21, 2010
Why do the media ask every player who is nearing retirement or has recently retired, if they are going to become a manager? Is it because they want another few years to have a pop at them and to make headlines from their failure? Or is it because they naively don’t undertstand what it takes to be a manager? In fact, if you look at the most successful managers in modern football, they are men who never had a prominent and lengthy playing career. Read more... (533 words, 1 image, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)
