by Patton Hunnicutt on May 15, 2010
Chelsea completed the FA Cup and EPL double with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth in Portsmouth’s last hurrah before relegation. With the EPL season over and nothing to lose one would have thought that Portsmouth might have come out pretty loose and given Chelsea a hard time and they did. Only allowing Didier Drogba the double-clenching goal in the 1st half.
What does this mean for the future of the EPL? Well, it means that United is really pissed. They already gave Chelsea the regular season title and now they had to watch the blues win the FA Cup. It kind of makes that epic final from last year seem like a distant memory–doesn’t it? Read more... (316 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on May 2, 2010
New departure rumors are swirling around Rafa Benitez. NOW it seems that his discontented–again–and he may just not be able to take it anymore.
“I decided to sign an extension because the squad was good and the money could be there. At the end, things changed.
“We’ve had a bad season and hopefully things will be different in the future, but at the moment I can’t talk about the future because I don’t know what’s going on.”
“It’s not a question of money. I said no to massive offers. I decided to stay under some conditions which have changed.” Read more... (320 words, 2 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on April 12, 2010
Portsmouth has pushed itself into the FA Cup Final against Chelsea with a thrilling win over Tottenham Hotspur. It’s one those things you can only read about in storybooks as Kevin Prince-Boateng had to pass a physical just to get on the field. THEN he had to put away a crucial goal to quash Tottenham and secure a spot at Wembley in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea.
Remember, this is the same club that is facing relegation AND has already been put under administration by the EPL. However, they can somehow pull together the strength to defeat the dreaded Spurs AND play Chelsea–the best team in the EPL–for the FA Cup Title. Read more... (319 words, 3 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on April 10, 2010
This Fergie is WAY more interesting.
Just a note–while I am in the “media” I don’t consider myself a serious journalist or a part of the “press”. The “press” seems so much more serious than me and I’m just not “hardcore” like that. So, I’m not taking this personally–I’m just saying.
Fergie says:
“It is hard to understand the press. Someone told me that coming back from the Champions League final in Rome last year they were all delighted on the press bus that we lost. They were absolutely pleased that we lost; the English press.” Read more... (390 words, 2 images, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on April 9, 2010
Jose Reina has signed a longterm deal to remain in Liverpool and hopefully give Fernando Torres what he wants. The deal is for 6 years and should coincide quite nicely with the middle of Torres‘ career at Anfield Park. Now, does this mean that Liverpool is going places?
Not really.
Having a great Goalkeeper in the backfield is essential to winning, but this doesn’t really do anything for Torres up front. Does this mean Torres will keep complaining? Probably. Does this mean the club just spent money they could have spent in the midfield or at Forward? Yep. Should that matter? No, not really. Read more... (309 words, 2 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on March 26, 2010
Nani has been rewarded for a good season in redemption of his original deal that brought him to Old Trafford in 2007. His new contract will keep him with United through 2014 and will likely give him the chance to finish his career with United.
What does this say about ManU? For me it says 3 things:
1. They know they can do just as well in-house as they can do on the open-market.
2. They chased and landed someone who WANTS to be at Manchester United–not someone who wants to be in Manchester for the money.
3. They are smarter enough to know what’s hot and what’s not. Read more... (269 words, 2 images, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on March 25, 2010
He needs to keep his talking on the field.
Andrey Arshavin knows that he contributes to Arsenal, but I guess he doesn’t think his contribution is enough. He thinks that Arsenal needs more starpower to win trophies in England. In fact, it goes something like this:
“I am still of the opinion that to win trophies Arsenal needs more players. There is the simple fact that last summer we sold two players and bought only one. So there is an obvious deficit of at least one. Then we lost Van Persie, Gibbs and Ramsey for a long time. So for me it is natural we need new players.” Read more... (314 words, 2 images, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on March 20, 2010
photo credit: kevmann16
This field could host the beginning of good days in English Soccer…
Carlo Ancelotti did exactly what I hoped he’d do and he’s told his club that they need to focus on pulling the league and FA Cup double. Now, do I think that’s realistic? No. I like Chelsea–alot–but here’s the deal.
There’s too much to deal with. Only 7 clubs in the vast history of English soccer have pulled the double and that makes the odds very slim. Plus, there’s so much talent in the world today that it’s hard for a team to get a roll of such proportions that would allow them to win two tournaments at once. We don’t ask teams to win the Super Bowl and then “The Other Super Bowl” and I think it would be pretty insane to ask Chelsea to do so. Read more... (313 words, 2 images, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on February 26, 2010
photo credit: bhhardinge
The lights aren’t off…yet.
Pompey has been put on administration following their inability to find new ownership and new capital. It’s a sad day for Portsmouth, but the day is not lost. However, there are a couple things to consider:
1. Their administrator Andrew Andronikou is charged with severely cutting costs and attempting to make the club solvent. This is very good because at least the EPL has a vision for how this should get fixed. Find a dude who works for a financial firm to fix this! Most sports teams (including Pompey) aren’t that smart. Read more... (344 words, 2 images, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)
by David Wilson on February 24, 2010
FA Cup holders Chelsea took a giant step closet to a domestic double by beating Aston Villa 3-0 in the FA Cup semi-final. Their opponent in the final will be Portsmouth who shocked Tottenham 2-0 on extra time.
Chelsea were outplayed by Aston Villa in the first half of their semi-final but came on stronger in the second half and got the all important first goal when Didier Drogba turned in John Terry‘s miscued shot.
As Villa pressed for an equalizer they left themselves open at the back and Chelsea took advantage as first Florent Malouda coolly finished Michael Ballack‘s deep cross and then five minutes into added time Frank Lampard added Chelsea’s third. Read more... (186 words, 2 images, estimated 45 secs reading time)
