by David Wilson on September 1, 2010
For the first time Premier League teams had to name a 25-man squad for the first half of the EPL season and there was a couple of surprises.
All 20 clubs had to submit a squad of up to 25 players containing no more than 17 players who do not qualify as homegrown. Homegrown players are classed as players who “irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday”. Read more... (1279 words, 1 image, estimated 5:07 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on August 31, 2010
So as the dust settles until January, three of the seven transfers that were being rumoured as the day began actually happened. Gyan, Di Santos and Hleb all making the moves they were expected to make as the day started. Once again though as predicted, the 24 hour rolling news channels were making up their own stories. If Scott Parker had left West Ham in this transfer window then the Chariman would have had to leave West Ham as well. He came out weeks ago with a statement that would have made his position unteneable if Parker had gone. Yet the television got a lot of coverage out of the nothing story that he was on his way to Spurs. Read more... (329 words, 1 image, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on August 28, 2010
Cesc Fabregas makes his first start for Arsenal this season against Blackburn this lunchtime after a Summer of speculation surrounding his future. There no smoke without fire, and you get the feeling Wenger has fought very hard to keep his captain this transfer window. But who really knows what has gone on behind the scenes, and whether there was very much at all in the pages and pages of copy and the hours of live sports news and chat. Read more... (446 words, 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on August 22, 2010
Avid followers of the English game will know that Arsenal used to have a reputation for winning games 1-0. Their fans even had a chant that celebrated this fact. This state of affairs pre-dated Wenger though, and yesterday the Arsenal thrashed new boys Blackpool 6-0. And that scoreline has become very popular in the first two weeks of the Premier League season. Today, whilst reading about Chelsea’s second 6-0 win in two games, I witnessed Newcastle United put six goals past Aston Villa. In the Magpies first home game back in the top flight, Andy Carroll netted a hat-trick with his third goal rounding things off in the final minute. Read more... (445 words, 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on August 21, 2010
Today we have seven Premier League fixtures all kicking-off at 3pm in England and my pick of the day is Arsenl versus Blackpool. You get the feeling that even a six-nil hammering wouldn’t spoil the Blackpool party at the Emirates Stadium, but whose to say the Tangerines will be rolled over after last weeks performance.
Admittedly, Ian Holloway’s boys were helped considerably by Wigan’s defence and Chris Kirkland in goal. Marlon Harewood’s two goals had no right to find their way in to the back of th net, but Kirkland was picking the ball out nonetheless. Wenger has sounded the warning signal to his players in the pre-match press conference and has backed those words up by picking a strong eleven for the game. Chamakh starts again up top for the Gunners with a packed midfield and Robin Van Persie on the bench. Wenger seems to be easing Van Persie back in after a busy Summer in South Africa. Read more... (362 words, 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)
by Damian Cooper on August 15, 2010
And so it begins, with Joe Hart keeping a battered Man City in the game, and West Brom ten goals behind Blackpool already. The EPL is once again shining brightly. Tottenham didin’t win but opened up with intent, and Chelsea bounced back from what many were touting as a poor pre-season and a lack of form. Read more... (465 words, 1 image, estimated 1:52 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)
by John Brandon on June 29, 2010
After a desperately disappointing World Cup exit at the weekend, the question is where do England go now?
The whole tournament showed England to be an over hyped mediocre side set up in a way by Capello that below average sides were able to simply raise their game and get a result against them.
People have actually forgotten that before this tournament England actually failed to qualify for Euro 2008, with exactly the same squad as the current campaign. So it’s the same squad, just four years older, or as Capello whinged in his press conference, ‘four years more tired’. Read more... (486 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)
by David on April 28, 2010
The Emirates Cup has quickly become one of the best pre-season touraments and the 2010 edition is shaping up to have some great games.
Emirates Cup 2010 will see Arsenal joined by Italian powerhouse AC Milan, Scottish giants Celtic and leading French club Lyon. The event – which will be hosted by Arsenal and sponsor company Emirates Airline – has been scheduled for over the weekend of Saturday 31st July and Sunday 1st August,
Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: Read more... (294 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)
by Patton Hunnicutt on April 15, 2010
Arsene Wenger says his future at Arsenal is solely dependent on the club’s ”capacity to win trophies”. What in the world does that mean? Doesn’t he know–surely he does–that alot of that capacity is in his corner and he is responsible for making the players ready to win said trophies.
Personally, I hate the word trophy. It makes these guys sound like they want something on their mantle to impress dinner guests. It’s annoying.
Anyways, if Wenger wants to leave now because he thinks Arsenal can’t “win any trophies” then he’ll have only himself to blame. He’s got Cesc Fabregas–and don’t you think he’ll be ready for next season after breaking his leg? What more could you ask for than a great leader? Read more... (366 words, 2 images, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)
