Bleacher Report - EPL

The Highest Scoring Matches in Premiership History

Carolina Tiger — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:32:56 -0500

After the demolition of Wigan by a rampant Jemain Defoe and Tottenham Hotspur's side, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the Premierships other goal-fest. There have been two other strikers apart from Defoe that have scored five goals in the Premier League, Andy Cole for Manchester United and Alan shearer for Newcastle United but were they in the highest scoring games?

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Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon Can Spur England's World Cup Ambitions

Bobby Chew — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:18:40 -0500

There was only one main highlight of week 12 and that was the unthinkable 9-1 Tottenham-Wigan match. Jermain Defoe scored five goals in a match where Wigan was torn apart by a second half Spurs blitz. He now joins Andy Cole and Alan Shearer in the illustrious ranks of goalscorers who scored five goals in a Premier League match.

Aaron Lennon showed that he could be England's most potent attacking force by creating three assists. Harry Hotspur had this to say about this brilliant Spurs performance.

Liverpool once again disappointed in their defending. They have now conceded 13 goals from set pieces which is the highest among the Premiership "Big Four." That's a staggering 65 percent of all the goals that the Reds have conceded this season. The Liverpool-Kop was scathing in their opinion on Benitez' tactics against Man City.

Darren Fletcher is slowly but surely becoming as influential and irreplaceable as Roy Keane for Manchester United. That's as big a compliment for the Scottish captain as it can get. Oh wait, maybe he could be even better, I have never seen Roy Keane score the goal "Fletch" scored against Everton. The Stretty Rant blog shared their afterthoughts on the match that moved United back to second behind Chelsea.

Once again, West Ham let a two goal lead slip due to inept defending. As I said in my preview post , Jimmy Bullard needed watching but he ran riot instead. Read the unbiased honest assessment of the Hull-West Ham stalemate as posted by Hammersfan in his blog.

The silver lining for Zola is that West Ham is out of the bottom three and there is every possibility, with Franco and Cole, that the Hammers can outscore Burnley at Upton Park.

Arsenal's old weakness resurfaced at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland choked the Arsenal midfield and supply line to Eduardo. Lorik Cana was superb, with crunching tackles and thoughtful ball distribution. Steve Bruce enhanced his reputation with this win, so maybe touting him as Fergie's successor isn't so much a shot in the dark anymore.

Disappointment was apparent at the Arsenal FC Blog when they wrote this post on the match.

And finally, the big blue machine of Carlo Ancelotti continue to chug along, taking no prisoners with a methodical 4-0 win against Wolves. Who would it take to stop the Blues? The African Nations Cup, perhaps? The Blue Champions blog speaks highly of the Wolves match , the youngsters and Ancelotti. Who would have thought that Ancelotti would blood youngsters??!!

Next week will be a bumper weekend. Two explosive derbies on Sunday mean Manchester United will be rubbing their hands and expecting to capitalize on the carnage ahead.

Bobby Chew also writes weekly EPL reviews on his English football blog, The Flat Back Four .

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Jermain Defoe Kills Off Michael Owen's 2010 Dreams

Andrew McNair — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:13:07 -0500

It is only November, and Jermain Defoe is already only two goals off his record English Premier League tally of 13 strikes with Portsmouth a couple of seasons back.

The pint-sized striker was simply on fire as Tottenham Hotspur struck nine past Wigan Athletic at the weekend, bagging five for himself—but will it have impressed England boss Fabio Capello?

A simple answer would be—I’d blooming well hope so.

What Capello wants up front for England

It is exactly what England needs—one of their best strikers in the form of his life in a World Cup year, and it must now be pretty certain that barring injury, the 27-year-old Defoe will board the plane for South Africa in June.

Sadly for some English die-hards, the form of Defoe has simply snuffed out any chance Manchester United’s Michael Owen has of making the trip.

England’s other classy diminutive striker has zero chance of playing the best football of his career over the next six months and competing for a place with the Spurs star, as those days are definitely behind him.

However, had plenty of England’s strikers been misfiring this season, I’d have definitely stuck him on the plane, but there is only room for one poacher in a World Cup squad and the finishing (the best England has, according to Spurs boss Harry Redknapp) of 38 times capped Defoe has already sealed his place alongside Wayne Rooney, although he is still unlikely to be next to him on the pitch in SA next year.

Despite his form, Capello has shown he is no fan of small strikers since taking over as England boss, and Defoe, with 11 international goals already to his name, will likely have to make do with a role off the bench behind Rooney and a bigger striker, possibly Emile Heskey, at the World Cup.

But nothing in football is ever set in stone. Only Defoe can keep Capello’s mind ticking over.

Defoe must kick on if he is to change his destiny

Only England legends Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole had struck five goals in an EPL game before Saturday, which just goes to show the calibre of player Defoe is.

Not only that, but it is now 12 goals in as many games for the Tottenham man in 2009/10, and he may at this point deserve to be England’s number one striker, but he must push on and win the golden boot with 30 strikes if he is to snatch a starting spot at the WC or at least deserve to in the eyes of the boss.

Capello has a system, one which players like Defoe, in the eyes of the England boss at least, will struggle to fill. As we all know, it takes something very special indeed to change a manager’s opinion—yes, something even more special than five goals at lowly Wigan on a cold November Sunday.

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EPL Review: Spurs Humiliate Wigan, Gunners Title Hopes Fade, and Chelsea Roll On

Willie Gannon — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:29:09 -0500

The last time we had Premiership action, it finished with a David Ngog dive. Then we were bestowed with "the hand of Gaul" as France beat Ireland in the playoffs for the World Cup. So it was with great trepidation that we went back into the full scale battle that is the EPL. Chelsea once again showed that they are the team to beat this year, Arsenal's title credentials were left in tatters, and Liverpool continued to stumble.

Chelsea 4-0 Wolves

The Pensioners were without a number of first team players as they entertained Wolves at Stamford Bridge. If there was ever a game that was a simple paint by the numbers exercise, then this was it. Chelsea was so superior to Mick McCarthy's side that you almost thought they were playing a different sport.

Florent Malouda got the first goal of the game after his 40 yard run to outside the Wolves box, his strike would still be travelling today if it was not for the net, it was that powerful. Michael Essien then scored a brace as Ancellotti took the shackles off the Ghanaian in Lampard's absence. Essien is a truly phenomenal midfielder, one of the few exponents operating today that can do absolutely everything, brilliantly. Chelsea have not even seen what he is capable of bar the odd time he is allowed to play.

Joe Cole also scored his first goal this season after coming back from an awful injury. Exactly what Fabio Capello needed him to do. While the most famous teenager never to have played came on for Nicolas Anelka and looked decent, Gael Kakuta.

Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City

Liverpool's run without a win now stretched to ten games...Rafa is coming under further pressure, but at least Manchester City did not win. If that particular scenario had occured then the ground the Spaniard walks upon would have become even shakier.

Two players carried off in the first ten minutes did not help matters, but Liverpool still went on to dominate a strangely subdued City who lacked any kind of ambition. Liverpool need to win against Debrechen in the Champions League this week, but with their destiny out of their own hands it remains to be seen if Fernando Torres will play, or if he will return against Everton next week, which could be a make or break game for the Reds.

Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal

The Black Cats have been the surprise side this season. Drawing away to United and beating Liverpool, Steve Bruce's team were always going to be a difficult proposition for an Arsenal team missing the influential Robin van Persie. Without the Dutchman in the team it was difficult to see where the goals were going to come from.

Arsenal was pretty mute for the entire game while Sunderland were well deserving of all three points. Andy Reid received a standing ovation when he was substituted half way through the second half and one must wonder what kind of influence he might have had in Paris on Wednesday.

As it was, Darren Bent scored the solitary goal and if Arsenal fans face the truth, it pretty much ends their title challenge this year. And it will be completely over if they do not take all three points against Chelsea next week.

Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan

The surprise result of the weekend. Especially when you consider that this Wigan team have beaten both Chelsea and Aston Villa in recent weeks.

Spurs were always favourites to win this game and taking their 1-0 lead into the second half the game was poised on a knife edge. Eight second half goals battered Wigan into submission and Jermaine Defoe bagged five of those. It was a truly phenomenal performance by a team obviously enjoying life at the moment.

The result moves Spurs five points clear of Liverpool in the battle for fourth.

Elsewhere:

Hull came from two down against West Ham to lead 3-2 before succumbing to a Da Costa equalizer. The 3-3 result wasn't really what either under pressure manager wanted, but it was a damn sight better than losing.

David Dunn scored and inspired Blackburn's 2-0 win over Bolton at the Reebok. It was accomplished without Big Sam who had undergone a minor heart operation in the build up to the game. Get well soon.

Aston Villa had John Carew to thank as he scored four minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw away to Burnley . The Clarets have had a number of good results recently and Owen Coyle deserves much credit. Don't be surprised to see him mentioned as one half of the new Scotland set up.

Birmingham beat Fulham 1-0 . Quite possibly the worst ever game in Premiership history.

Stoke continued their good start to the season with a 1-0 win over lowly Portsmouth . Due mainly to Thomas Sorenson, who has been the best 'keeper in the EPL over the last 12 months, especially when you consider who he has to play with.

And finally...Manchester United hammered Everton 3-0 at Old Trafford . The result was never in question, but the implications of how far Everton are off the top four could could back to haunt them. Young Jack Rodwell is being chased by every manager who is half decent, and Manchester United are no exception. He could be moving to Old Trafford in January. The Red Devils application form was devastating to say the least.

10 Statements after Gameday 13.

1) The Arsenal-Chelsea match next week is a cup final for the Gunners.

2) As I've said before, Spurs can expose anyone. Outside the top four.

3) The Aston Villa-Spurs match next week is massive for both clubs ambitions this year.

4) The race for fourth includes: Villa, Man City, Spurs, and Liverpool. The Reds are the clear favourites but both Spurs and City will spend heavily in January if they are in good positions.

5) Who will be go first? Rafa or Hughes?

6) Gael Kakuta was the most famous footballer never to have played. He looks good.

7) England has serious problems outside their first XI.

8) Any team that buys Matthew Upson for £15 million needs their head examined.

9) Ruud van Nistelrooy, available in January. But where will he go? Back to United? Liverpool? Spurs, if they sell Keane? Arsenal?

10) Who will win the World Cup? Some might say that France's name is on the cup after Wednesday...

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Tottenham Spurs Put up Nine in Spectacular Performance

Alden Sing — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:58:11 -0500

Fans live for nights like this. It was an enrapturing night which fans witnessed nine goals in one half alone.

As the whistle blew for half time, Spurs fans had no inkling that they would be in for a treat in the second half.

Starting with the lanky Crouch and the diminutive Defoe, Harry Redknapp hit all the right notes.

Lennon was irresistible on the right. He was in full flow, charging down the right flank and delivering pin-point crosses that left Kirkland befuddled.

Defoe was the star of the night, helping himself to five goals. As Lennon prodded Wigan's defence on the right, Defoe ensured that his colleague's hard work was justly rewarded.

In a mere seven minutes, he completed a devastating hat-trick.

It was a night where Spurs welcomed back their long term casualties. Dawson, Woodgate, and Peter Crouch finally got their rare first starts.

By doing away with the diamond formation, Redknapp reverted to a formation familiar to many Spurs fans—that of a big-small striker combination.

After a harrowing experience in mid-week, Keane was left out to recuperate on the bench. Crouch fitted in like a glove.

The newly minted 4-4-2 gave Kranjcar a chance to shine on the left.

Wigan, on the other hand, fielded a side which had dutifully delivered thus far.

But it all went awry in the second half, as the Wigan backline went AWOL and Kirkland was left alone to face a firing squad in the form of a rampant Spurs side.

I lost track of the number of times I saw Wigan defenders ball-watching.

With a backline that boasted experienced hands like Boyce, Edman, Bramble, and Melchiot, Wigan were surprisingly poor.

When Edman shockingly failed to control a routine long punt, I knew that Wigan were in for a hiding.

But take nothing away from this Spurs side. Not many teams in the EPL today can score nine goals. Even fewer teams will ever allow nine goals to sail pass them.

Like the full sun eclipse and shooting stars, footballing Gods allow such freak results to happen only once in a blue moon.

Plundering nine goals pass Wigan does not make Spurs a top four team overnight. Similarly, a good thrashing away from home does not make Wigan relegation material in an instance.

In a long and hard season which still has about three quarters to go, one result changes nothing.

However, this will definitely be a night to savour for Spurs fans. For the skeptics, this is why football is the indisputable "beautiful game."

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Jimmy Bullard, the Spark in Hull City's Engine

Carolina Tiger — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:40:23 -0500

When Hull City signed 31-year-old Jimmy Bullard in the January transfer window at the beginning of this year, it was hailed as a giant coup for the Tigers.

Despite reservations at the huge record breaking price tag of £5m and the astronomical wages of around £45,000 a week it was seen as a display of the club's ambition to be an established member of the Premiership.

Bullard had lost much of the previous two years for Fulham to an anterior cruciate ligament injury and many pundits and fans alike questioned the validity of Phil Brown and the Tigers signing a player with his injury record at the wrong end of his career.

Brown saw the introduction of a player of Bullard's quality as a catalyst who could take the Tigers to the next level. At the time, Hull City were still flying high in the Premiership, despite a dip in form at the tail end of the previous year.

Bullard made his debut in the away defeat at Upton Park against West Ham. Bullard was playing well and getting to know his new team mates when disaster struck. A robust tackle after 37 minutes and his season was over.

It was originally thought that the injury was not too serious; but after seeing renown sports medicine specialist, Dr. Richard Steadman in Colorado, Bullard's season was officially over. Steadman had been the doctor who rebuilt Bullard's knee the previously and Bullard had full faith in his ability to bring him back again.

So, it was after another large operation and much rehabilitation that Bullard made his long awaited return against his old club, Fulham. It was a lacklustre performance for the Tigers with Bullard coming on as a second half substitute.

Unfortunately, Bullard couldn't turn the team's performance around.

However, Bullard was able to make his long awaited home debut against Stoke City, and what a debut it was. Bullard was involved in both of the Tigers' goals in a stunning 2-1 victory were he controlled the midfield like a general as well as winning the
Man of the Match award.

His fine form continued after the enforced international break with Bullard controlling the midfield again in the 3-3 home draw against West Ham. Bullard was instrumental in all three of the East Yorkshire team's goals, scoring his first goal for the club from the penalty spot. Once again winning the Man of the Match award for the second game
in a row.

However, despite the turn around in form, it is the manner in which Bullard has marshalled the Tigers since his return which has been the most impressive. Bullard has been like a magnet for the ball. He always wants the ball he has become a conduit for the Tigers. He is becoming the channel through which everything moves forward.

Bullard has the uncanny ability to somehow make space for himself where it looks like he has none. He would make the difficult pass-and-run movement, that should be a staple of any professional footballer, look like the simplest of things.

Where others struggle to break free of their marker, he does it with ease.

He makes telling crosses with pinpoint accuracy and is not afraid to take a long-range, speculative strike at goal. Quite simply, he is becoming the heartbeat of the team. His bubbly, effervescent demeanour is rubbing off on a team that has been listless at times.

Players that have been playing well but not great have caught his bug, and it has changed the team's dynamics, with phenomenal success.

Brown has noted the similarities of Bullard to the inspirational figure of Jay Jay Okocha. Okocha signed for the Tigers in the promotion-winning season from the Championship and much of the Tigers' good play came through Okocha in that successful season, even without him scoring a single goal for the club.

The worry for the Brown and the Tigers is that as other clubs start to notice just how influential he is, they will start to make Bullard a target for special attention. Not that they will necessarily do anything to injure him, but he will obviously be marked closer to stifle his style of play.

If the Tigers are to survive and prosper in the Premier League, they will need Bullard to stay fit and hopefully he will be the catalyst for other great signings for Yorkshire's only Premiership club.

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The 12th Man: Can Fans Win It for Their Club?

Bobby Chew — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:24:22 -0500

When the match is seemingly heading for a draw, can the encouraging chants from the home fans spur their team on to get the three points? Can the continuous intimidation of the fans towards opposing players help tip the balance scales in favour of the home side?

Can a technically inferior team beat a more talented side simply by riding on the enthusiasm and the "12th man effect" of their fans?

This season, Burnley has been the surprise package of the English Premier League as shown by a strong home performance in which the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Birmingham and Sunderland have been on the losing end at Turf Moor. On the flipside, Owen Coyle's men have been winless on the road, losing five of their six matches thus far.

Quite clearly, the home fans wild support have made the difference.

Last season, Stoke City, cheered on by sellout crowds collected 32 out of their 39 points on home soil. The Potters fans were intent on giving their players a huge lift as soon as they entered Stadium Brittania.

In so doing, Stoke City fans are currently the noisiest set of fans in the Premiership, recorded at 101.8 decibels. Even this season, Stoke is sitting pretty in mid table, their two wins coming at home.

It is exactly this train of thought that inspired Wolves chief executive, Jez Moxey to roar newly promoted Wolves to Premiership safety. With the fans making up the difference at home, Wolves can make a decent fist of staying up.

Fans also add on to the colourful atmosphere on matchday.

Who could forget Pompey's wild man, John Westwood? For more than a decade, he has supported Portsmouth through the best times and the worst times, with his bells, singing, and drums. This is the reason why people flock to football stadiums, to soak up the atmosphere and cheer their teams to victory.

And so, looking at the evidence above, clearly fans through chants, songs and opposition intimidation can lift a team past more competent teams. This is particularly true for home matches where home fans would typically outnumber visiting fans.

These David vs. Goliath matches with its 12th man effect brings with it that added romanticism and unpredictability to the sport that I love. Though club officials have requested for fans to tone down the ferocious support, it has to continue being a part of the beautiful game.

After all, what is football without its fans, I ask you?

Just a little trivia, the world's loudest cheer belongs to the Liverpool fans.

The occasion?

The time was February 2005, and it's the first minute of the Carling Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.

Liverpool surge forward from the whistle and Fernando Morientes crosses for John Arne Riise to fire home. The travelling Kop erupts, and the noise is the loudest in history, registering 130.7 decibels.

Liverpool lost the final 3-2 after extra time, but won the battle of the sound waves, with the recorded level being two decibels higher than the previous record set by the supporters of the Denver Broncos American football team in 2000.

The "Riise roar," as it is now known, would have drowned out the Concorde on take-off.

Bobby Chew is a football blog writer at The Flat Back Four, where he offers his opinions and views on the English Premier League.

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"Sad" Roy Keane Urged To Move on by FAI Chief John Delaney

Willie Gannon — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:54:33 -0500

On Friday afternoon Roy Keane's outburst about Ireland's loss to France surprised everyone. His constant use of the phrase "get over it" has now come back at him as FAI Chief, John Delaney has hit back at the "sad" Keane and told him to "get over Saipan."

It was a strangely aggressive Keane that took to the press conference podium at Portman Road. His body language was simmering even before any questions were asked.

He seemed like a lion, waiting to ambush, before he gets ambushed himself.

When asked if he had any words on Ireland's defeat after Thierry Henry's handball he had this to say:

"Ireland had chances at Croke Park and in Paris but didn't take them," he said. "France were there for the taking but Ireland never grabbed it–as usual ."

"They were afraid of that next step and were mentally not strong enough ."

"They can complain all they want. That is not going to change anything. France are going to the World Cup–get over it . They want sympathy as usual. It is the usual carry on and it is boring. Get over it. "

"It is the usual FAI reaction -'we've been robbed,' 'the honesty of the game' but there was one of the group matches [Georgia] when Ireland got a penalty for a handball and no one had appealed for it."

"It was one of the worst decisions I have ever seen and it changed the game and the group. Robbie Keane scored the penalty and Ireland went on to win but I don't remember the FAI saying 'You know what? The referee made a howler, let's give them a replay.' It is the same principle."

"It [Henry's handball to set up William Gallas's decisive goal] was instinct for Henry. Would I call him a cheat? No I wouldn't think so. Did he bend the rule a little? Maybe. You see cheating going on all the time. Nobody wants a cheat. I wouldn't agree that Henry is a cheat. He is a top, top player who took advantage of the situation."

"I don't feel the game has been damaged one bit. Ireland had the chances. They never took the chance in the first game. They never performed. I heard an interview after the first game when the manager said none of the players got booked–maybe that was the problem, maybe the players should have got booked because they stood off France. In the second game we had opportunities and didn't take them."

While Keane did make some valid points during his statement on Ireland, the vitriol in which he went about it was there for all to see.

Keane obviously still has some pent up anger towards the FAI, most likely about Saipan in 2006, where he left the Irish World Cup squad after a massive argument with Mick McCarthy.

It was also very strange to hear Keane try to direct his rage towards Shay Given, who made his 102nd appearance for Ireland on Wednesday.

But he reserved special attention for John Delaney.

"He talks about the honesty and integrity of the game but I would not take any notice of that man," Keane said. "People forget what went on in the World Cup in 2002 and that man talks about honesty. I have been involved with Ireland since I was 15 years but he didn't have the decency to even make a phone call–and he goes on about the honesty of the game."

The manner in which Keane made these statements on Friday were strange to say the least. He directed the press conference towards the Irish game, and then appeared to get something off his chest by attacking the FAI and Delaney in particular.

In truth, Keane came off like a struggling individual. A worrying case for all those who idolized him and who have backed him through thick and thin.

One would almost think that he is on the verge of becoming a caricature of himself, a David Brent of football, if he is not too careful.

On Sunday night, FAI Chief John Delaney urged Keane to let go of Saipan, turning the Corkman's words on himself by telling him that he should be the one to let it go.

"It's just a side-show."

"We've all moved on from Saipan-Niall Quinn, Mick McCarthy, the FAI and all the players- but it seems to me that he (Keane) hasn't."

"It's time for him now, in my opinion, to learn from the past-not live with it."

"I really thought the images shown around the world on Friday were very sad-it's sad to see a great former player reflected in the manner as he did."

"It's time to forget about Saipan and move on-because everyone else has."

In this respect, John Delaney is right.

Saipan was seven years ago, everyone has moved on, it's time to let it go.

Paul McGrath, a friend of Keane wrote on Sunday that he was looking at the press conference screaming at Roy on the TV to "stop" and to "shut up", wondering what he was doing.

The giant Irishman is one of a select few who know the full story of what happened in Saipan, and is a known backer of Keane. But even he saw the impending breakdown that is looming on the horizon for the ex-Manchester United player.

For his own sake, Keane needs to let go, and to learn how to deal with these situations in a better manner. His future as a manager and as a person, depends on it.

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Spurs Send a Message to EPL 4th Place Challengers With 9-1 Humiliation of Wigan

Willie Gannon — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:10:10 -0500

It was a game that made many records. Spurs' highest win in the Premiership of all time, the first time Jermaine Defoe ever scored five goals in one game, the second-fastest hat-trick in EPL history, and, most notable of all, Spurs actually sent a message to their rivals for fourth.

Defoe scored five second-half goals as Tottenham humiliated Wigan 9-1 to record their highest top-flight win. Peter Crouch had headed Spurs into the lead before Defoe went to work with his amazing tally and Niko Kranjcar, Aaron Lennon and an unlucky Chris Kirkland own-goal completed the rout.

Paul Scharner's lonely strike was the best that Wigan could muster, as Spurs went on to record the highest Premiership win since 1995.

Spurs have struggled as of late. Since Lennon's injury and Defoe's suspension, Tottenham have found it difficult to break teams down. Add Luka Modric's broken leg into the mix and Spurs were without three of their most creative and penetrative players.

Today against Wigan, Tottenham really showed that there is a growing gulf between teams that operate in the top half of the league and those below them.

By the time the referee blew his final whistle, Wigan had already given up the ghost. The game was as good as over in the 54th minute when Spurs made it 3-0, and the vast majority of Roberto Martinez's men chose then to start wondering who they were going to vote for on tonight's episode of "X-Factor."

If Simon Cowell had been in attendance, he would have derided Roberto Martinez's team for imitating real footballers.

Not that Wigan's dismal display was the real reason for the cricket score result. Spurs contributed beautifully, too.

To score nine goals in one game is something that normally only good teams can achieve.

If it was not for a man-of-the-match style display from Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal, Spurs would have hit double figures, as the ex-England international pulled off a whole string of world-class saves.

The desire to turn off at three or four nil is normally too great for most teams, but to keep going and doing the right things until the 90th minute sends a real message out to the rest of the league, or at least to three teams in particular.

This win keeps Spurs in fourth, five points ahead of fourth place favourites Liverpool, four ahead of Manchester City, and three ahead of Aston Villa, who they play next week.

After only 13 weeks of the season it looks as if the battle for fourth will be between those four sides.

Liverpool's title challenge has sunk without a trace, but they are still more than a match for most teams in the EPL.

Manchester City may have drawn their last five games, but should they get within touching distance of fourth come January they will be expected to add another couple of signings to their growing dressing room.

Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa were all but written off after an opening day defeat to the aforementioned Wigan, but brilliant work during the summer transfer window by O'Neill has strengthened them considerably.

Tottenham were expected to launch a challenge for the Europa League at the very least this year. Good signings by Redknapp during the summer has seen Tottenham's squad be hailed by many as one of the strongest in the league, even if their first-choice XI are far from being of title challenging quality.

Spurs and Aston Villa remain the long shots of the fourth-place challengers, and in truth they will need both Liverpool and Manchester City to continue their poor run of form if either are to capitalize and gain that elusive Champions League spot.

Liverpool have now only won just once in 10 games. But that drought still sees them only five points off fourth place with their best player still to return from injury.

Manchester City are pretty much a new team, hastily assembled over the last year by Mark Hughes. City have signed some of the best talent from outside the top four that the league has to offer.

They also have the ace-in-the-deck that if things are not going to plan, Hughes can just go out and sign some more players as money is not even an barrier.

Aston Villa have neither the money of their three rivals nor the squads to match. But they do have one of the best sports-psychologist-style managers in the game in O'Neill, and he alone can bring this team to heights otherwise unheard of.

For the moment, fourth is still Liverpool's and City's to battle over. But if they slip up, Spurs won't be far behind.

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Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic: A Real Case Of "Latic Acid"

David Jacobs — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:50:00 -0500

It has been a terrific day for Tottenham fans around the world and beyond, as the Spurs cemented, screwed, and reinforced (with metal girders) their place in the top four by dishing out a 9-1 shelling to Roberto Martinez's poor Wigan.

The Latics have much improved since the introduction of the former Swansea City manager, who had a six-year spell at Wigan as a notable player. Whilst Valencia and Palacios found bigger teams to go to, Egyptian hitman Amr Zaki (formerly loaned to Wigan) and Columbian forward Hugo Rodallega managed to compensate for some of the class lost from the squad.

Martinez has orchestrated a couple of notable victories in Wigan's league campaign already. Two examples are the away win against Aston Villa on the first week of the season and a memorable 3-1 win over Chelsea at the DW Stadium.

However, this has not been enough, for Wigan are still hovering dangerously close to the razor-sharp fan-blades of the relegation zone. Today's defeat has merely rubbed salt in the wounds for the Latics.

The first half was, in contrast to the second half, very cliched. An average half, both sides sizing each other up and maybe a goal here or there. Spurs had considerably more possession than Wigan and made use of the space available.

Aaron Lennon returned from injury at full-throttle. Possibly after ingesting a book about the greatness of Johan Cruijff's "Total Football" playing style, the favoured England winger covered pretty much every blade of grass on the pitch, dropping back to help the defence and then piling on the pressure in his natural position.

The little winger cut into the penalty box, as he so often does, and then fed a wonderful cross past Wigan's goalkeeper Chris Kirkland onto the head of Peter Crouch nine minutes in to give Spurs a deserved lead.

A short time later, there was a scramble to score the second goal in Wigan's net.

Jermain Defoe's attempt was cleared by Emmerson Boyce with Lennon in the right place to have a go himself. The shot was collected by Kirkland.

Wilson Palacios was looking to demonstrate what Wigan were missing from the midfield by trying a shot from 35 yards in the 20th minute. He was on target, but in cinematographic style, Kirkland (who was going to be enduring a blitzkrieg of shots here-on-in) made a wonderful save which was caught and not parried.

Spurs still looked weakened in defence though. Gomes threw the ball into nowhere (e.g., a Wigan player) so the attack on Spurs continued. Striker Jason Scotland managed to get a clear shot on goal from the error, but it was pushed away by Gomes, who it must be said, has been in remarkable form this season.

With a penalty save against Sunderland glued firmly into the back of his mind, he probably feels like there's nothing he can't do.

Defoe made another darting run in the 34th minute and was pretty much one-on-one with a helpless Chris Kirkland. A fireball of a shot hit the crossbar, but the Wigan keeper may have got a slight touch on the ball to ease it off target.

Toward the halfway mark, N'zogbia curled a free kick which was caught by Gomes. Defoe had one more shot which was kept away by Kirkland. Yes, Wigan's defence sound like they really weren't there. But things were about to get a lot worse.

Just six minutes into the second half of what we thought would be an average game, Jermain Defoe reminded us all why he deserves to start for the England Squad next year.

Lennon, who has sharpened his crossing skills, fed a pin-point pass into the path of Defoe, who beat his marker and lashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Only three more minutes had passed when Defoe scored an unassisted goal in the right side of the net. Then, four minutes after that , Defoe made a hat-trick out of another Lennon assist. Defoe volleyed a low cross again into the right hand side of the net.

Just before Defoe’s third goal, though, Paul Scharner scored a goal which gave Wigan some hope but gave Spurs a kick in the teeth. It was found that Scharner had replicated the new and improved "Henry Goal." He controlled the ball with part of his arm. The goal stood, much to the astonishment of everybody except Scharner, who was met with nothing but boos from Spurs fans for the remainder of the game.

Still, it became insignificant as time went on (even if the boos continued). The barrage of Spurs attacks continued, leaving Wigan (particularly Kirkland) with no room to breathe. On 64 minutes, Lennon’s consistent efforts were repaid handsomely with the fifth Spurs goal. The enjoyment factor for me was that it was 5-1 with about half an hour still to go.

The away section had cleared by this point, and for good reason.

Spurs still didn’t have to wait long for another goal, unless you call five minutes a long time. Assisted by Vedran Corluka this time, Defoe caught onto it and fired in goal No. 6. Spurs had to wait a whopping 20 minutes for the next goal. Defoe pushed his goal tally to five in the match with another solo goal resulting from a defensive error by Erik Edman.

Just to add to the misery, the goal itself has been considered as an own goal by him. Very strange considering that Bentley’s 45-yard goal against Arsenal in October 2008 bounced in off of Almunia’s hand.

You would think that it was over by now, the goals. Sorry Wigan fans, one more during injury time. Krancjar joined the goal party by knocking in the final goal of a highly entertaining match (well, for the Spurs fan base, anyway).

The goal gap between Spurs and archrivals Arsenal has now been reduced to seven. Also, Spurs won’t have anything to fear facing Aston Villa next Saturday because even if Spurs take a loss, goal difference will keep Villa just below Spurs, unless Villa manage to win 10-1 on their turf, which is unlikely.

Happy days...

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Chelsea 4-0 Wolves | Here they come...

BlueChampions.Com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:59:49 -0500

Sorry I’m late but I’m here and I’m fine. Just before the start of the match, I was telling my mate that this would be a 4-0 for us. What I was telling him basically was that Chelsea is too strong for the Wolves. That’s even without Drogba and Lampard. Now that the Bridge is back to the good old days being a fortress, the Wolves are certainly going to worry only about the scoreline and not about the result.

That’s exactly what happened. We could have easily doubled this scoreline if we had wanted. Once we got to a 3-0 lead, we had started to think about everything else than this match. I was pretty pleased with that. I certainly wanted a win of 3 or 4 goal margin so that we can stay on top on a goal difference table too. Naturally, Ancelotti was certainly thinking beyond this match.

This was certainly a pre-cursor to the drogpard-less Chelsea. We had to get two things out of this match—goals and confidence. We all know that more than 50 percent of our goals come from Drogba and Lampard. When this duo is missing, we had to show that we can still continue with our excellent goal-scoring form. And confidence? We played superbly well, supremely confident, and completely in control of the proceedings. The Wolves had a few chances, but still were nowhere near stopping us from scoring.

From a Chelsea fan’s point of view, the biggest talking point of the match was not about the four goals, or Essien’s near hattrick, or the manner in which we dispatched Wolves. It was the three subs that came in the second half. I don’t remember when was the last time a Chelsea manager played three young players in a premier league match. When I saw the names of Borini, Kakuta, and Matic in the bench, I was just wildly hoping that all three would get to play. I was very, very pleasantly surprised and thoroughly impressed of Carletto when he brought all three.

So finally, we got to see Kakuta. And I see what the fuss was all about. Man, he is so good! He dribbled, he did some tricks, he sprinted through—overall, he was damn impressive. I want to see more of him. I always knew that he is supposed to be the wonder-kid who’s the next-xyz, but it was great to see him in action. He did not play like it was his debut. He did not play like how one would do if his match was a premier league home match. I also liked the way he blended with the rest of the team. I hope we get to see more of Kakuta in the near future.

Borini was impressive too. He did not get to make as much impact as Kakuta did but he showed some glimpses of why Carlo had him play in a premier league match. He had pace and could really accelerate at times. I still don’t know what kind of forward he is. He doesn’t look like a goal poacher. Maybe he is more of a support striker. Matic was very good too. He is a really big lad. I did see him making some very quick decisions and neat executions in his midfield play. He is very strong and he has skill to make some really tight angle passes.

I was so happy to see these guys on the pitch and playing so well. We seem to have a potential of hitting a great balance in the team with some fantastic senior pros and highly talented kids. I like the way Carlo is taking us. He seems very professional, very pragmatic, and thoroughly tactical too. He’s got his next big test coming up next weekend. Carlo has now beaten Liverpool once and Man Utd twice. If he beats Arsenal next week, we will surely finish as winter champions. We should thump the goners at Emigrants, and you don’t know how much I’d love that.

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Gael Kakuta Has Debutant Ball for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Alex Dimond — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:03:32 -0500

No one can say they weren’t warned.

If anyone had missed the furore surrounding Gael Kakuta that overshadowed the early part Chelsea's season, Carlo Ancelotti’s comments ahead of yesterday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers added another reason why the Frenchman has become one of the most talked about young players in world football.

“He (Kakuta) is a very good talent. He is very young and he can be a player in the future of Chelsea with his quality,” Ancelotti said.

“His character is good, he is a quiet boy, and at that age I have never seen a player with this talent,” he revealed.

Coming from Ancelotti, that is some statement. The Italian has observed some fabulous players in his 30-year career in football.

The fact that Kakuta is the best 18-year-old he has ever seen—just last year he was working with another fabulous teenager, AC Milan's Alexandre Pato—will only increase the expectation around the young winger.

But the France U19 international has already become used to that.

After all, in September he went from being just a highly regarded member of Chelsea’s reserve team to one of the most notorious players in the world.

With FIFA judging out of the blue that Chelsea had broken the rules in luring Kakuta from French club RC Lens as a 16-year-old, the west London club found themselves forbidden from making signings for two consecutive transfer windows.

Kakuta, portrayed in many places as one of the villains of the piece, was banned from competitive football for four months.

Mentally weaker players would have crumbled under the increased scrutiny. But after a brief period of panic, the club's 2008 Scholar of the Year soon composed himself.

“I think Kakuta suffered for one or two weeks about the situation and then after that he was better,” Ancelotti said.

“He returned to being quiet and calm and stayed with us to train. Still now he is well.

“It was not so important to speak with him, it was important to train with him and he stayed with the first team in this period.”

Kakuta had served six weeks of his ban by the time the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended all punishments awaiting the hearing of Chelsea’s appeal.

That decision came just a few weeks ago. Returning to competitive action with a few appearances for Franc U19s last week, Kakuta found himself on the bench for yesterday’s Premier League game as the Blues were deprived of many regular first-team players.

3-0 up inside 20 minutes, Ancelotti was given some freedom to experiment. So with 30 minutes to go, Kakuta was given his club debut.

By Chelsea players’ standards, it was nothing more than a good individual display. But as Wolves proved, that is nothing less than exceptional in the context of the league.

With young players on debut, often the performance is the least revealing aspect. In terms of long-term potential, frequently it is the attitude displayed that is the most reliable indicator of their future.

With a nonchalant shake of Nicolas Anelka’s hand and a wry smile, Kakuta entered the fray clearly at home in the environment he found himself.

Unfazed by the considerably larger and more physical opponents he was up against, the No. 44 played like it was a schoolyard game.

His first major contribution saw him pick up the ball on the edge of the area, and in one swift movement beat a bemused Richard Stearman with a body feint before pulling his shot just wide of Wayne Hennessey’s near post.

From then one the Stamford Bridge knew they were witnessing a special talent. Kakuta passed, moved, and dribbled like a star.

He flashed a 30-yard shot just wide of goal. He kept the Wolves’ defenders guessing with a variety of tricks and touches.

It would have been an embarrassment for the club if Kakuta had not looked worth all the trouble. But, having been forced to overcome a horrendous double-ankle fracture already in his fledgling career, it might not have been a surprise if he had failed to live up to the enormous hype.

After all, pressure gets to veterans of the game, never mind youngsters who have never played a minute of top-flight football.

But the very best young players—Wayne Rooney, for example—announce themselves with impressive performances from the first minute on the pitch.

And while Rooney might have grabbed more headlines on his debut, by scoring a 90th minute winner for Everton against a previously unbeaten Arsenal in October 2002, it was his attitude that really revealed him as a genuine star in the making.

He looked at home on the football field, like that was where he was born to shine.

Yesterday, Kakuta showed that same raw quality.

The Frenchman still has some way to go to become one of the very best in the game, but the potential is clearly there.

Because of Kakuta, Chelsea might yet be unable to buy players come next summer.

But because of him, they might not even want to.

”We had a lot injuries before this game today, but our play was the same,” Ancelotti noted.

“In January, we may not even need to buy other players.”

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Liverpool-Man City: The Draws Return, But the Bad Luck and Poor Form Continues

Natalia T — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:41:15 -0500

Within 18 minutes, Rafael Benitez had to make two substitutions due to injury. As the first half played out, there came a sneaking suspicion that, yet again, this might not be Liverpool’s day.

After a messy second half, the game against Manchester City rightfully ended with a 2-2 draw, meaning Liverpool have now only won once in 10 games.

Benitez’s starting line up looked alot stronger than the ones seen before the international break, and to many fans relief Andriy Voronin was not in the squad.

Jamie Carragher took up the right-back position after Glen Johnson was ruled out earlier that day, leaving Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger to pair up at the back. David Ngog started in place of an injured Fernando Torres, and Ryan Babel saw a rare start ahead of Yossi Benayoun.

But there was a welcome return to the team for Steven Gerrard, as he finally started after a lengthy absence from a groin injury.

In the fifth minute of play, Daniel Agger and Kolo Toure clashed heads, which left Agger with a concussion and Benitez needing to make his first substitution.

With Liverpool’s defense already under pressure this season, a head injury to Daniel Agger was the last thing Rafael Benitez wanted to deal with. This meant a home debut for the greek centerback, Sotirious Kyrgiakos.

Less than 15 minutes later and Rafa Benitez was forced to make his second substitution of the game. Ryan Babel came off with an ankle injury and was replaced by Yossi Benayoun, who himself was still recovering from a hamstring problem.

Not much else can be said about the first 45 minutes of the match, as neither Liverpool nor Manchester City managed to create an attack that didn’t fall apart before the final third.

Despite the early injury to Daniel Agger, Liverpool’s defense seemed composed and in control for most of the first half. However, that simply could have been a result of Manchester City’s poor attacking threat.

In the second half, it all turned around for Liverpool as Martin Skrtel scored his first ever goal for the club. A Steven Gerrard free kick in the 50th minute was converted smartly by the Slovakian international to put the home team ahead.

Manchester City knew they had to attack and put the home side under pressure.

Liverpool’s poor defense of set-plays this season continued and in the 69th minute a Man City corner found an unmarked Adebayor, who levelled the score with a powerful header.

Martin Skrtel had elated the Anfield fans with his earlier goal, but his lack of concentration at the back had now cost his team the lead.

With the momentum from the goal and a rattled Liverpool defense, City refused to let up and where rewarded seven minutes later with a Steven Ireland goal to put the visitors 2-1 ahead.

Benitez looked fed up, but Benayoun quickly fixed his manager's mood with an equalizer 74 seconds after Ireland’s goal. For the last 15 minutes of the game Liverpool continued to attack, but they were too disorganized going forward to snatch the full three points.

Despite this being labeled the game that would hand out top four credentials, it is hard to draw any conclusions on which team deserves the top four spot more, after neither side looked much better than the other.

It does seem like it would be unrealistic to expect Liverpool to start winning straight after their string of losses and massive injury problems. On the bright side for the Merseyside club, they did not lose and a draw is still a point.

When considering all the reorganization that Rafa Benitez had to do after two substitutions within the first 20 minutes, they managed to handle themselves reasonably well.

Sotirious Kyrgiakos did a fine job replacing Daniel Agger, and Yossi Benayoun managed to get the equalizing goal to put some much needed points on the board.

During the match, all of Liverpool's attacks were disorganized and they were constantly missing their man in the box, Fernando Torres. David N’gog has potential, but he can’t lead Liverpool’s attack like the Spanish striker undoubtedly can.

Still, something has to be done with Liverpool’s defense.

Liverpool should have come away from that corner with their one-goal lead intact, because Martin Skrtel should have been alot closer to Adebayor for his fifth strike of the campaign.

Liverpool do need some luck when it comes to their players this season, especially with Daniel Agger’s injury in his first game back from a recurring back problem. It would have been interesting to see how the Skrtel-Agger back line would have worked out, and how strong they could have been defensively.

Manchester City didn’t show much power during this game, even against an injury rattled Liverpool.

The Anfield fans have been left to think about what if they have their top starting line up in place. With Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Yossi Benayoun, and Daniel Agger, they can rightfully raise themselves back into the top four.

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Thierry Henry Can Handle The Ball, But He Can't Handle The Truth

Willie Gannon — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:45:57 -0500

Since Ireland's exit from the World Cup at the "hand" of Thierry Henry, there have been many things said and done. But there are only two absolutes after this infamous day. Ireland are out, and Thierry Henry's star has fallen.

The incident made front page headlines across the world, radio airwaves from Dublin to Dubai were inundated with irate listeners, Internet campaigns sprouted everywhere, and Henry's wikipedia page was defaced to the Nth degree. But we'll come back to that later.

Irish football was entitled to be furious. They were more than entitled to launch their doomed bid to have FIFA sanction a replay, even though they must have known in their heart of hearts that it would never happen.

The appeal was dead in the water before it ever had a chance. Anyone who knows anything about football knows this, especially Henry.

From listening to radio shows and from reading posts on the Internet, I've come to the conclusion that Henry has gone down in many football fans estimation, especially Arsenal fans.

And now he knows this too.

His half-hearted attempt at offering consolation to Richard Dunne by sitting beside him silently in the middle of the Stade de France beggars belief. By this stage he obviously had time to digest his actions, which saw Ireland eliminated, and knew that there would be a media backlash on the horizon and that he had to move quickly to save his reputation.

In the immediate aftermath of the match, Henry gave an interview to French television. When asked if he cheated, and if he was ashamed, he scoffed and refused to answer.

Then he had a re-think and issued a terse statement.

“I am not the ref. The ball hit my hand and, I will be honest, the ball hit my hand . It was a handball.

"[Sebastien] Squillaci went to jump with two Irish players and then the next thing I know, the ball hit my arm , I played it, and the ref allowed it. It could have been better to do it in another way but like I said, I am not the ref."

Twice within the short statement Henry refers to the ball hitting his hand rather than the other way around.And then he chose to blame the referee for not seeing him cheat.

It was a feeble attempt to deflect some of the impending blows that were coming like a wave, his self serving comments swelled that wave into one of biblical proportions.

The next couple of days saw newspapers and sports programs across the world dissect the match, the incident, and indeed, Henry's self serving statement.

His character was being analysed as never before, every match he has ever played dissected, and then people began to see that they had been believing in a false God all along.

Henry has been held up as one of the greatest players ever to play the game. And yes, he is a phenomenal player, but that does not mean he is not of questionable character.

Over his career, Thierry Henry could never be regarded as a dirty player. He just wasn't the type, but he has been known to be dishonest and cheat to reach a means to an end, but those rare infringements have always been held for the biggest games.

Of course there have been small dives here and there, but everyone else does it so Thierry is except from indignation.

After the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in 2006, Henry was quoted as saying "Next time [he met Puyol] I'll learn to dive. Maybe I will, but I'm not a woman."

It is also worth noting that Henry slated Terje Hauge's display as referee after the match, despite agreeing that the ref was right to send Jens Lehmann off.

Soon afterwards he actually joined Puyol at Barcelona, guess money can paper over any crack?

But he did get his revenge some 30 days later by diving against Puyol during the World Cup match against Spain. The Barcelona defender received a yellow card after Henry feigned an injury to his face and Patrick Vieira scored a headed goal from the resulting free-kick to seal Spain's fate.

The point is that Henry is a great player, has had a great career, and has been held up on high by so many people that he has actually started believing their hype in him.

When all is said and done, he is human like the rest of us, makes mistakes like the rest of us, and is not perfect, just like the rest of us.

The FAI then launched their doomed bid. The FFF, quite rightly, refused. Then FIFA refused. Then last night Thierry came out with another pointless self serving statement.

"The fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control."

A wonderful gesture I'm sure you all agree. Except that it was issued hours after the door was bolted shut on the FAI.

Why not release this statement before both FIFA and the FFF had their say? He has had since Wednesday night to do so.

The real reason for this statement was to repair some of the damage that his reputation has suffered, specifically in England, where he was close to canonisation.

For once the English media all agreed upon one thing, Henry was a cheat. And every single one leaped to discredit their former hero. His reputation has been tarnished.

Ex-professional's such as Bixente Lizarazu, Emmanuel Petit, Lee Dixon, and Eric Cantona, as well as respected journalists like Graham Hunter, James Lawton, and Martin Lipton have all written on Henry's halo falling.

The simple truth is that this incident has sullied a great career. A great player, who hardly ever cheated..., has been reduced to the lowest form of player.

His reputation has diminished, as has the game of football.

When a player like Maradona or Henry or Roy Keane decide to cheat it tears at the very fabric of the game. For those so great to reduce themselves so low pains the rest of us to see it happen.

We bear the brunt of their folly, not they. They hardly care, they've reached their goal and we've cheered them to it.

Thierry Henry now has to face up to the truth of what he has done, and face the ramifications.

If he can handle the truths amongst the abuse he will undoubtedly take he will come out of it a better man.

For the moment though there is the inevitable backlash. Even his wikipedia page has had to be put under lock and key after some irate fan managed to edit it.

I think it's safe to say that Henry won't be going on holiday to the Emerald Isle any time soon, but the Irish are a resilient people.

They sang their hearts out on the streets of Paris on Wednesday night while the French hid in dark corners ashamed of their hollow victory.

Parisian's can count themselves lucky that it was the Irish they beat, because if it had been some other nation God only knows what would have happened to their beautiful city.

As it was there was only 60 cars burnt out in Paris that night.

All by Algerian fans, celebrating getting to the World Cup...

Just imagine the party the Irish would have had had they qualified...

But some Irishman did get a bit of a laugh from Thierry, at least for a few hours anyway.

As I said before Henry's reputation has diminished, he now has to face up to it and re-build it.

Here is the Wikipedia page before it was taken down, it shows how some people see our illustrious Henry...(click here )

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Everton Head to Old Trafford to Face Manchester United

Andrew Jordan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:30:46 -0500

Now that the international break is over and 32 nations have qualified for next years World Cup, players will now head back to their clubs in the English Premier League as the season gets back underway.

This weekend, one of the biggest games in the Premier League is happening at Old Trafford in Manchester, as Manchester United will host Everton in a battle of two sides that finished in the top five of the Premier League table over the last two seasons.

Last year, these teams met three times: twice in the Premier League (1-1 draw at Goodison Park, 1-0 win for Man United at Old Trafford) and in the FA Cup semifinal, which went to penalties in which Everton won 4-2 as they went onto their first FA Cup final in 14 years.

This will be Manchester United's final game for manager Sir Alex Ferguson before he starts his two match ban over his comments of Alan Wiley after a 2-2 draw with Sunderland back in October, and will instead have to watch the game from the crowd.

But Fergie will be trying to get back on track after a 1-0 loss at Stamford Bridge during the last night before the international break, in which Fergie has claimed that Man United were the better team, and the goal by John Terry shouldn't have counted due to a foul inside of the penalty area by Didier Drogba on the free kick.

However, Man United will have no Jonny Evans, Fabio, Michael Carrick and John O'Shea all out due to injury, and news has come out in the last week that Rio Ferdinand will be out until 2010 due to his mysterious back injury.

But United will have the services of Nemanja Vidic, as his calf injury has healed and he played in Serbia's friendly against South Korea earlier in the week.

Victory will be huge for the Red Devils here, as they will most likely find themselves behind by eight points in the table by the time this match kicks off; but with just one loss in their last 28 league matches against Everton, United could definitely make it one loss in 29 if they come out and play strong despite their injuries.

After a 2-1 win at Upton Park during the last week before the international break, Everton will look to build on that win with another great result at Old Trafford.

However, Everton also have many injury concerns, as Tim Cahill, Louis Saha, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, and Steven Pienaar all have injury concerns and Diniyar Bilyaledinov will be out due to suspension.

Everton also have had a slow start to the season, as they are currently just five points away from the relegation zone, so getting a win here is key for the Toffee's.

And finally, Everton know that this game is completely winnable with United struggling against teams such as Birmingham City, Manchester City, Sunderland, and Bolton at the Theatre of Dreams this year; and Everton know that they could stick with Manchester United for a full 90 minutes.

Finally, this matchup between Manchester United and Everton is an intriguing matchup for both sides, as both these clubs need points for totally different reasons, but only one side will leave Old Trafford with a sense of accomplishment from a positive result.

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Humor: Nani Completes a Cross in Practice

Andriy Khrustalyov — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:29:38 -0500

Take note: the article below is purely satirical, and is meant solely for entertainment purposes.

The Manchester United camp is buzzing today.

Today in practice, Manchester winger Nani completed a cross in the air to his teammate's head.

The cross took place during a five-on-five scrimmage during the United practice.

Nani has been criticized lately due to his inconsistency when it comes to crossing the ball.

In an interview with The Sun, United coach Sir Alex Ferguson was ecstatic. He commented—"Everybody was excited. This is real progress for Nani."

"During the summer, we played a game where I jokingly asked Nani to hit the defender anytime he crosses. He won that game."

"I realized, once Nani told me that he hit the defender 14 times and asked if I'm proud, what's going on."

"Since then, I think Nani's been confused. The whole mismanagement issue was just that—I never told him to stop playing the game."

"I think Nani hired a couple of prostitutes to celebrate. That might be overdoing it, but nonetheless this is a step forward for Nani."

"I believe he has the potential to become the next Pennant. I am trying to adapt Nani to play similarly to the former Liverpool winger—at least he won't lose the ball."

When asked about other players' progress, Ferguson continued:

"Other guys? Oh, they're doing well."

"Today Berbatov ran a 20-yard sprint during the scrimmage."

"Afterwards he took a small break, but that's OK."

When asked about retirement, Ferguson continued:

"I'm trying to convince my World War II veterans to hang up their boots—I got a hook for their shoes set up and everything. However, Giggs just wants to keep playing."

"Me? I'll retire when Liverpool wins the title. So I guess I'll still be here for the next 20 years or so at least."

Just a little Premier League Humor

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Liverpool vs Man City Highlights: This Weekends Premier League Games

David Wilson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:46:20 -0500

The International break is over and it is time to get back to Premier League action. The big game this weekend has to be the lunch time matchup between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool vs. Man City

This is really a huge game for two teams who have Champions League ambitions. Liverpool has been part of the "Big Four", but Manchester City is desperately trying to break into that select group. City is one point ahead of Liverpool with a game in hand, so they know that if they win at Anfield, they could be a massive seven points ahead of Liverpool.

A Liverpool loss would put them 14 points behind league leaders Chelsea, and will end their title ambitions for another season.

Liverpool will have Steven Gerrard, but it looks like Fernando Torres will miss the game due to injury. City is hoping to welcome back Brazilian striker Robinho, who has been out injured since injuring an ankle playing for Brazil in September.

Both teams have problems in defense, and I expect this game to be wide open game. By 3 p.m. on Saturday the pressure will be turned up on either Mark Hughes or Rafa Benitez, and I expect Rafa to be celebrating a big win at home.

Verdict: 2-1 Liverpool

Birmingham vs. Fulham

These are two sides that play better at home than away from home. Luckily for Birmingham this game is at St. Andrews and not Craven Cottage. Birmingham started playing some good football before the break, while Fulham had that huge win over Liverpool. These are the type of games that Birmingham need to win to stay up, but I don’t think they will.

Prediction: Birmingham 1 Fulham 1

Burnley vs. Aston Villa

Burnley has made Turf Moor a really difficult place to go and get points, which is one of the reasons why they are where they are in the league. At some point, Aston Villa has to step forward and show whether they are Champions League contenders or pretenders, and this is the week that they show how good they can be with a tough victory away from home.

Verdict: 1-2 Aston Villa

Chelsea vs. Wolves

This is the lick of the week, Chelsea has been fantastic at Stamford Bridge this season, and even with their injuries they are much too strong for the Wolves.

Verdict: 4-0 Chelsea

Hull vs. West Ham

The win against Stoke helped save Phil Brown’s job in the short-term, but eventually Hull needs to fire him if they are to stay up. That being said, this is the kind of game they could easily win, because West Ham is a very hot and cold team.

You never know what team will show up from a week to week basis. I am looking for the bad West Ham to travel to Hull, and for Phil Brown to get another big win.

Verdict: 2-1 Hull

Sunderland vs. Arsenal

This is a really tough game for Arsenal, who will be without Robin Van Persie and will have one eye on next weekends game against Chelsea. In the past three years, this is the kind of game Arsenal would have lost or drawn, but this team is maturing, and I expect them to get all three pints here.

Verdict: 1-2 Arsenal

Man Utd vs. Everton

United has had two weeks to stew about the defeat at Chelsea, and they know that they need to get three points here against Everton if they are to keep Chelsea without touching distance. Everton has been a real disappointment this season as injuries have really hurt them. Games between these two sides are always close, and I expect United to edge this one in the end.

Verdict: 2-1 Man United

Bolton vs. Blackburn

If you are a fan of Brazil, this is not the game for you. This one will not be pretty, but it will be very competitive with no quarter asked, and no quarter given. This will be a game of few chances, which indicates a draw to me.

Verdict: Bolton 1 Blackburn 1

Tottenham vs. Wigan

Similar to West Ham, Wigan and Spurs are two teams that have been very up and down lately. The advantage Tottenham has in this game is that they are at home, and their forwards are better than Wigan’s defenders. That translates into three points for the home team

Verdict: 2-1 Spurs

Stoke vs. Portsmouth

This is a big relegation six-pointer. Stoke was really unlucky to lose at Hull before the break, while Portsmouth has been playing better than their record indicates. I expect this to be a really tense affair, but Stoke is at home, in front of some very passionate fans, and at the end of the day, that will be the difference between one point and three points.

Verdict: 2-1 Stoke

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English Premier League Preview: Week 13

shaun Lazarov — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:37:33 -0500

Saturday 20th November

Sunderland vs Arsenal

Sunderland face a tough game against Arsenal who struggle to establish themselves as serious title contenders again after a few dubious seasons, and they are certainly doing well at proving that they are fit for the challenge. At only five points adrift, if they win this game they’ll be within reach of leapfrogging Chelsea and placing themselves at the top of the table. Sunderland are going to need a miracle.

Aston Villa vs Burnley

Whilst Burnley’s record against the Villain’s is a pretty good one, a lot has changed since the 1930’s when they played on a regular basis. Villa need to keep winning to continue with their European hopes and it seems they’ve got a pretty good chance of doing so.

Chelsea vs Wolverhampton

A returning Ashley Cole is great news for Chelsea, who can’t afford any slip ups with Arsenal hot on their heals and with their squad being more than slightly injury riddled. Wolves may need this win to drag them out of the relegation battle, but the smart money is on them being out-classed in every way by the superstars of Chelsea.

Hull vs West Ham

Hull’s top goal scorer Geovanni is banned and their keeper is injured. This does not bode well for the Tigers; most sides would suffer without their first string keeper and main goal scorer, so it is unlikely at best that a rather small Hull squad would be any different. West Ham are, however, coming off the back of a defeat, but it was hardly a crushing blow, so with the Hull line-up limited it’s fair to say West Ham have a good chance of getting a result.

Man Utd vs Everton

Both sides are riddled with injuries and suspensions although the Man United side looks slightly less worse for wear despite missing Carrick and Berbatov than the Toffees who have a nonexistent first string midfield, who do however look set to return by Wednesday, will not be playing against United, this match will basically come down to whose injuries affect them the least.

Birmingham vs Fulham

If Birmingham win or draw this game they will have equalled their best run under McLeish which would be great for the morale of the team. However it looks likely that Fulham will not be raining on their parade; their form this season certainly looks like that would be the case at least. Both teams coming off the back of draws it wouldn’t be unlikely to see another draw on Saturday.

Liverpool vs Man City

Although Liverpool are missing Torres, again, the return of Gerrard looks good for the Reds from Merseyside, but will it be enough to beat the ever-improving Man City? This is certainly a hard game to pick, but without any real striking power it would seam unlikely for a much needed Liverpool victory to be obtained. Are Benitez's days numbered?

Sunday 21st November

Bolton vs Blackburn

Both of these teams are struggling to find form this season and are subsequently in the bottom half of the table. Bolton’s recent injuries may, however, be enough to give Blackburn an advantage in what would have otherwise been a very even match.

Stoke vs Portsmouth

With Stoke missing their captain Portsmouth may have an opportunity to win those much-needed points to get them out of the relegation zone, but with both teams not in great form, the game could go either way.

Tottenham vs Wigan

Tottenham are missing practically half a squad so it would be fair to say Wigan have got a very good chance against the injury ridden or semi-fit Tottenham side. Wigan haven’t been on great form, but maybe they can pull something out of the hat this Sunday.

Shaun - livescoredaily.com - live sports

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The Battle For Fourth Place?

Kieran Beckles — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:15:35 -0500

Six-hour flights to Doha, 15,000 riot police marshaling stadia, and the hand of Henry sending the Irish dancing back to Dublin were just some of the main talking points of a frenetic and controversial, international break.

Football players and fans will be thankful to return to the normality of domestic football.

The most intriguing clash of the weekend undoubtedly will be at Anfield, where fifth meets sixth as Liverpool look to leapfrog Manchester City and move into fourth—if only temporarily.

It has been described as the "battle for fourth place;" a title which would presumably irk Rafa Benitez after the Reds came so close to winning an elusive Premier League title last campaign, but have stumbled over most hurdles this season.

Indeed, in their current plight, securing the final Champions League spot is a more realistic target than knocking Sir Alex Ferguson of his lofty perch.

Mark Hughes will be desperate to halt City’s current, cumbersome sequence of stalemates. After enjoying a successful start to the season, City have stalled in recent weeks, culminating in a frustrating 3-3 draw with Burnley at the Eastlands.

The trip to Liverpool provides the likes of Adebayor and Tevez with an ideal opportunity to cement the European ambitions of their employers.

Benitez has struggled to come to terms with a lengthy list of casualties in recent weeks, but he expects to have some of his big guns returning for this crucial league game. Steven Gerrard is fresh and raring to go, which will provide the manager, the players, and fans with renewed optimism as the club look to resurrect their season.

Questions will be rightly raised over the fitness of some of Manchester City’s players. Barry, Bridge, Lescott, and Wright-Phillips made the 10,000-mile round trip to Doha and played in England’s defeat to Brazil. Liverpool will be looking to capitalize on any fatigue shown.

Mark Hughes has plenty of depth to choose from should he opt to rest these key players, but he will want his strongest unit present to defeat an out-of-sorts Anfield outfit.

The tenacious Gareth Barry will be looking to flaunt his unquestionable talent in front of the Kop, reminding the Reds what could have been.

He’ll need to pass a fitness test on a troublesome groin.

The smart money will be placed on the home side. Liverpool perform best under pressure and Benitez will hope to replicate their outstanding performance against United a few weeks back.

Ultimately, Hughes would be content to settle for a sixth consecutive draw, but Benitez will recognize that, after a less than satisfactory result against Birmingham a fortnight ago, a win is imperative.

The Spaniard said: “Maybe we can start the season right now. Winning against City will boost everyone and if that happens I am sure we will see the best of the team.”

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Manchester United Will Need Jonny Evans to Have the Vidic Effect

Nathan Lowe — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:33:13 -0500

Most casual observers of Premier League football attribute Manchester United's trilogy of consecutive championships to be largely based on an ingredient no longer present: Cristiano Ronaldo.

But it's intellectual evasion to simply attribute anything to just one factor. The current Galactico's emergence into the world class certainly paralleled United's resurgence against Chelsea's brief dominance in the top division, but his influence was not absolute.

Often overlooked—as defenders are—was the capturing of Patty Evra and especially Nemanja Vidic in January of 2006.

Despite each taking time to acclimate to the British game, both Evra's swinging wing play and particularly Vidic's guerilla mentality provided the foundation for players like Ronaldo to get forward with complete abandon.

Then United started winning titles again.

If that trend is to continue, it'll likely be predicated on defense once again.

Unable to rely on that big, red Ronaldo button—the emergency pressure valve, activated after each successful defense, launching marauding counter-attacks—now United are stagnant getting down the field.

Often Wayne Rooney drops deep, sensing need, to spray the ball to the right, and if a cross comes in, it's only Dimitar Berbatov in the middle to fend for himself. Or vice versa, as Berbatov links play, leaving Rooney's considerable head—but small stature—in the center alone. Owen and Rooney together only exacerbates the ineffecicacy of the tactic.

When once they sprang forward, they now progress more deliberately, making their attack less incisive, their defense more important.

As such, any success in Mancunian parts will be founded again upon a murderin' Vidic with his new partner Jonny Evans.

Rio Ferdinand is mercifully taking ample time to tend to his injuries. He can afford to, already cemented in Fabio Capello's England plans. Therefore, Evans has at least two months of consistent football ahead of him.

In the games he's earned this season and last, the Northern Irishman has proven more than willing and capable to fill Vidic's position in the left of central defense. The right-footed Vidic actually seems more comfortable in Ferdinand's vacated position to the right of Evans.

Just a fortnight ago, against Didier Drogba—formerly Vidic's favored nemesis—Evans cheekily and knowingly stamped the Ivorian's chest in a pugnacious display which brought joy to anyone rooting red, as Vidic himself chuckled on the sideline while Drogba writhed epileptically.

It's the same physical, simple-minded approach that Vidic himself brought to the club in 2006, perpetuating what is now a decade-long dynasty for United.

Each player will have a chance to put their head in where it hurts as United chase Chelsea at the summit. Without Ferdinand, Evans should find a long run of games alongside the fan-favored Serbian.

If Jonny Evans continues to impress fans, pundits, and his manager, while causing our rivals' show ponies to spasm comically, Ferdinand might not be—nor should be—featuring even into the new year, or even well beyond.

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Rafa Benitez's Bargain Hunting Costing Liverpool Dearly

illya mclellan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:21:43 -0500

At the close of last season, it was thought that Liverpool were finally going to end the run which has seen them not lift the league trophy since the managerial tenure of Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish.

Now, a mere 12 games into the new season, they seem to be out of the title race. Not only this, but Europe is looking grim as well.

For Liverpool fans across the globe, this has come as a shock and has brought them back to earth to face the grim reality that the cost cutting measures of the financial crisis has meant that the club entered the new season under-prepared, unready and with a squad that is still far too reliant on two key players.

The question here is whether the blame is solely Benitez's or if it is to do with the clubs ownership not being true blue reds.

After all, can the American owners really understand the nature of the passion of Kop end regulars? Or any Liverpool fans for that matter?

It is hard to imagine many of the premier leagues foreign owners really understanding what the game means to the people who flow through the turnstiles to place their hopes and dreams at the feet of their heroes.

So if Benitez was forced to curb spending because of budgetary constraints, it now appears extremely ironic that they are now in danger of slipping out of the lucrative champions league positions which guarantee the club millions in revenue every season.

So in order to cut costs, they went into the new season with a squad that has only two real world class players and a lot that have had the odd good day followed by a few bad ones.

When the only major signing Benitez made in the off-season being the acquisition of the unfortunate Aquilani, who though a very good player, has been hindered terribly in his time in Italy through injury and so far not helped his new club at all to bear the burden of the loss of the Spaniard Alonso.

Perhaps complacency crept in to the Liverpool camp.

After all, last season they should really have won the league at a canter, whereas they instead found themselves in the familiar position of looking up the table at Manchester United.

Four points behind the champions at the close of the season they clearly lost the title because of the sides inability to close out fixtures against mediocre opposition. Drawing 11 games to United's six.

This was clearly the problem that needed to be addressed and it was widely expected that Benitez would go some way toward solving the problem of the teams heavy reliance on Gerrard and Torres with the signing of at least one more world class striker and one more world class midfielder.

World class is not used lightly in this context either, by world class it is meant the players should be able to make a shadow squad for a world 11 or other such all star side.

Instead the cash was spent on an injury prone midfielder who has struggled to play in Italy and now has not appeared yet in the EPL, which by many peoples standards is a much more physically demanding competition than Serie A.

Perhaps Benitez should have taken more time to appeal to his bosses to unlock more funds to his command so that he was able to buy two quality players that could have functioned in the place of the two players that seem to be irreplaceable when they are absent.

Instead, he chose to get Aquilani for under twenty million when he realistically should have been looking at buying two players at a cost of up to £60 million.

While this figure seems high, in comparison with the revenue amounts the club gains from the champions league every year along with advertising and exposure for the club brand through appearances in the champions league it is nothing.

If the players that were purchased would have helped them to reach the last 16 of the CL and kept them in the hunt for the EPL trophy its a good piece of management.

Now it seems that bargain hunting has cost Liverpool millions, may cost Benitez his job and maybe even herald danger that Liverpool could slip out of the top four and maybe even creaked the hinge on the door to mid table mediocrity.

The bargain hunting nature of the football manager is always lauded as a great gift,where in actuality most managers at successful clubs have to part with large amounts of cash in order to guarantee the continuation of that success.

Liverpool have to salvage their season from here on in and the January transfer window will need to be utilised in order to shore up the team.

Astonishingly two players that perhaps could have been ideal for the positions that Liverpool needed to fill and find adequate cover for, have been languishing out of the squad at Lazio. Goran Pandev and Cristian Ledesma are both out of favor with the ownership of the Italian side because both are eager to move on to greener pastures.

Perhaps Benitez needs to forget about bargains and just splash the cash so that Liverpool do not fall too far behind the clubs they have tried so hard to dethrone in the last few seasons.

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Manchester United Will Have an Asian Jersey Sponsor One Day

Ashley Furrow — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:37:00 -0500

The English Premier League is arguably the top professional league in Europe. It is also the most watched sporting league in the world and the top earning soccer league.

And Manchester United is arguably the most globally recognizable brand in the EPL.

According to an annual study done by business advisory firm Deloitte, Manchester United made £257.1 million in 2008—making it the world’s second wealthiest football club by revenue, directly under Real Madrid.

Roughly 25 percent of that figure came from commercial revenue. Put another way, Manchester United earned £64.3 million from sponsorships and merchandising during a one-year period.

That is a huge chunk of cash. A chunk many companies are vigorously competing to be a part of.

United is widely acknowledged as the best-supported club in the world with an estimated fan base of 333 million. Of these, 190 million fans live in Asia and 72 million in China.

Since football is wildly popular all over Asia, sponsoring EPL football clubs gives companies colossal brand visibility, which continues to grow as satellite television and exclusive rights to EPL games become more and more accessible to people across Asia.

As of 2007, English Premier League games were broadcast to over 600 million homes in 202 countries in Europe, Asia, Australasia, Oceania, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East.

ESPN-Star Sports, Asia’s biggest sports content provider, announced in early October that it won exclusive rights to broadcast EPL matches in 18 markets across Asia until 2013. For the first time ever, it will show all 380 matches each season live across several platforms including television, cell phone, and Internet.

Of the 16 official sponsors of Manchester United, 6 of them are Asian-owned companies, signifying a trend that is becoming more in more popular in the EPL—sponsors are increasingly becoming Asian-based. These sponsors range from telecommunications companies to vacation destinations to airlines to tire companies.

Manchester United is already ahead of the Asian-based company sponsorship curve, which could explain why the club earns the highest revenue in the EPL. It embraces the Asian market and welcomes players, fans and companies alike.

This year, Manchester United made trips to China, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia during the summer months to appease their foreign fans. The club is constantly looking to enter new markets.

As AIG, their current jersey sponsor, had to be bailed out by the United States government, the club had to look elsewhere for a new jersey sponsor for next season.

This decision comes down to one factor. Asia is where the money is.

That is the main reason why Aon, a U.S. insurance company, decided to dish out £80 million over four years to be the jersey sponsor for United. Aon saw how the AIG brand grew in Asia through their links with the football club and wanted to gain recognition in the area.

Furthermore, Asian-based jersey sponsors are not a foreign concept in the English Premier League, Chelsea sports Samsung, a Korean electronics group, on their jerseys and Everton sports Chang, a Thailand beer company, on their jerseys.

As Asia’s economy continues to sky rocket and satellite broadcasting deals continue to prosper, it is not off base to suggest that an Asian sponsor will some day be front and center on the jersey of Manchester United.

That day will probably occur sooner than you think.

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Harry Redknapp Launches Scathing Attack on Spurs Squad Players

Willie Gannon — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:05:31 -0500

Spurs sit in fourth place after getting off to their best start to a league campaign in some time. But Harry Redknapp has indicated to his team that he is not prepared to sit on his laurels by lashing out at certain squad members for complaining to the clubs Chairman about not playing enough.

Tottenham's star has risen exponentially since Redknapp joined in October 2008. Sitting bottom of the table after their worst start to a season since 1912, Spurs moved to bring in the former Portsmouth boss.

His influence is there for all to see, as Tottenham rose from the depths of the Premiership to actually launch a concerted attack on the European positions of the league. Only a final game defeat to Liverpool denied Spurs what would have been one of the great feats of the Premiership age.

With the wind in their sails, Spurs were expected to challenge for those elusive European positions this year. As luck would have it, they would entertain Liverpool in the first game of the season.

Spurs ran out comfortable winners over the team that finished second last year, and the stage was set for a good start to the season.

Eleven games later and Tottenham sit in fourth place above challengers Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa.

Much of this progress can be attributed to Redknapp's influence on the team, but it is worth noting that he has spent £71.5 million in only one year at Spurs.

For the most part, the money has been spent very wisely. Spurs were lacking firepower since the sales of Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermaine Defoe. So when Harry went looking for new strikers, it came as little surprise to see him re-sign both Defoe and Keane, before adding Peter Crouch to the mix.

These signings were quite significant, but perhaps his most important signing has been that of midfielder Wilson Palacios.

The Honduran was added to give Spurs some steel in midfield, as Redknapp reckoned that Spurs "lacked character in a battle." He was right.

Over the years, players have come in at Tottenham with the attitude that they have made it to the big time because Spurs are such a massive club and have then gone on to produce little on the pitch. This attitude has been endemic throughout the club over the years.

However, that attitude has begun to change since Redknapp came in.

Palacios bolstered midfield and all of a sudden certain players who had always thought that their position was unassailable were under threat.

There has been a massive culture change at Spurs in a little more than one year, and Harry deserves much credit for actually making these players work for the right to represent their team on the pitch.

Over the last 30 years, Spurs have gone through too many managers who were not equipped to tackle the culture of underachievement that had become part of the fabric at White Hart Lane, and Redknapp has now moved into the second phase of this culture change at the club.

Whenever a culture changes in an organization, it is normally met with fear, trepidation, and a general level of mistrust.

Changing your organizational culture is the toughest task you will ever take on. The organizational culture has been formed over years of interaction between the participants in the organization and changing it can feel like rolling rocks uphill.

Knowing that Spurs were burdened with players who were sitting on fat pay cheques and contributing very llittle, Tottenham Hotspur changed the players working conditions to try and force some of them into leaving.

In the summer, Spurs pulled their team out of the Reserve Squad Premier League.

All of a sudden, players were looking at going through a season without a game of football.

The focus was placed on Tottenham's ever-improving Academy side and many young squad players were sent out on loan to get experience.

While others were left to fight it out for the first team.

This obviously had a huge impact on players—not getting games. Now Harry has lifted the lid on how some disgruntled players have decided to complain to the clubs Chairman rather than the manager.

“What I found amazing is that agents will ring the chairman [Daniel Levy] and complain about their player not playing, you know, ‘What is your manager doing, why is he picking this player?’” Redknapp said.

That’s something that’s new to me and I find it strange and very difficult to deal with—if a player hasn’t got the courage to come and see you himself and ask why he’s not playing and get his agent, who would know nothing about football anyway, to ring.

“He [the agent] is only there because [the player] is a money-making machine. He’s got no interest in the player when he finishes his career probably, but will ring up the chairman and ask why you’re not picking this particular player.

“I’m lucky that the chairman doesn’t take any notice and he tells me about these idiots who ring him. But I just find it amazing that they have the nerve to do that, and I’m amazed that the player is weak enough to let his agent ring up the chairman and ask why he’s not playing.

“He should be coming to see me, knocking on my door. But that is what’s going on and I’ve come across it more and more in recent times.”

The broadside seems aimed at players like Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermaine Jenas, David Bentley, Giovani Dos Santos, and Alan Hutton, who have all found their chances limited this year.

At least two of those five are expected to move on in January after AS Roma and Zenit St. Petersburg announced their interest in Pavlyuchenko, while Bentley has been linked with a swap for Manchester City's Martin Petrov.

There needs to be many components in place for clubs to change. For a start, it's particapants actually have to want to change.

It then begins with the chairman, who has to understand how the current culture works and how it can be changed. He then puts together a team to bring in his vision of how the organisation should be structured.

Levy made one massive mistake with Juande Ramos as manager and Damien Comolli as Technical Director, so he went back to traditional methods and chose the most traditional of managers for the task.

Redknapp has been in management since 1984 and is one of the few managers to have reached 1000 professional games.

His history is there for all to see, and now he is the key influence on Tottenham's future.

So far, he has done a very good job.

But the progression off the pitch will only be recognised if he can make progress on the pitch.

To do that, Spurs must finish in the top seven. So far they are on course, but as any Tottenham fan will tell you, they're used to false dawns, and hope that this is not another.

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Birmingham City's Barry Ferguson Must Play For Scotland Again

Andrew McNair — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:07:23 -0500

The outspoken views of Tartan Army chief Alan Duncan about Scotland fans reacting angrily to the potential return of Barry Ferguson and former teammate Allan McGregor to the international fold—just months after their lifetime bans by the Scottish Football Association—are absurd.

Yes, the two men’s actions—of early morning drinking at Cameron House—midway through a Scotland camp were inexcusable and their actions of gesturing to fans and media alike at Hampden a few nights later—a sure fire sign footballers think with their feet and not their heads, but just as inexcusable—is allowing Scotland’s decline into the abyss continue because grown men cannot forgive or forget.

The pair were not the only players drinking that night (or morning, to be more accurate), and probably felt victimised by both the fans and the media, but they never once denied their guilt and took their eventual bans on the chin.

Birmingham’s Rock

Barry Ferguson moved south from Rangers in the summer and has once again proven his credentials as a quality football player with Birmingham City in one of the world’s toughest stages—the English Premier League.

One of Scotland’s evident problems is the lack of experience at the highest level, yet Mr. Duncan and his associates do not want to see the return of probably their most decorated domestic player days after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to an under-strength Wales side.

The 31-year-old midfielder has won it all in Scotland, including five Scottish Premier League titles, five Scottish Cups, five Scottish League Cups, and even led his side to a UEFA Cup Final. The 45-time capped Scot should be let back into the national setup to add experience and talent to a squad apparently lacking in either.

Far too many players in the squad have never played in Europe and are plying their trade in the championship in England.

George Burley made some fatal mistakes in his tenure, including losing the best goal keeper in Scotland (McGregor), a former captain (Ferguson) through bans, and the most prolific striker in British football (Kris Boyd) thanks to international retirement.

A country as small as Scotland simply cannot cope with losses of that stature.

Scotland’s Best Shot-Stopper

Ferguson was not the only player mentioned by Duncan, and in 27-year-old McGregor, he wants to sideline the best keeper playing in Scotland. With Scotland number one Craig Gordon of Sunderland looking increasingly fragile through injury, it is utter madness to ignore the only other goalkeeper in his class, especially with David Marshall lacking the consistency to perform at the highest level.

If Scotland wants to start afresh, then that means starting afresh—with Ferguson and Rangers duo McGregor and Boyd welcomed back into the international frame.

Alan Duncan does not speak for every Scotland fan with his narrow-minded views, as Scotland with the “boozegate” pair would be a better Scotland and Scottish fans should remember not to put pride over success; as pride has never qualified for a major tournament.

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Arsenal-Chelsea Rivalry May Decide This Season's Champion

Omer Jawed — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:04:17 -0500

The Chelsea-Arsenal rivalry was born in 1907 when the two first played against one other. This was the first time that two London teams had played each other in the First Division and drew a staggering capacity of 65,000.The most of it is been dominated by Arsenal, by winning 68,drewing 51 and losing 49 out of total 168 matches played between the two sides.

Arsenal’s domination over Chelsea continued through to the 2002 FA Cup Final. The match was a star-studded affair. Every player on both sides was an international. Arsenal had the likes of David Seaman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry while Chelsea had Frank Lampard, Celestine Babayaro and Arsenal old boy, Emmanuel Petit. 0-0 at the half, Arsenal took the lead in the 70th minute courtesy of Ray Parlour and doubled the lead 10 minutes later thanks to Fredrik Ljungberg.

What took the Arsenal- Chelsea rivalry to another level were two things. The appointment of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea Manager and the transfer of Ashley Cole to Chelsea. Mourinho saw that the Chelsea-Arsenal rivalry was one way traffic. He wanted to change this up and in no time got under the skin of Arsene Wenger. Wenger and all of Arsenal didn’t like the fact that Cole wanted to go to Chelsea and after putting up a fight, finally let him go although it helped that they received William Gallas in return.

After this, Chelsea was far more competitive in the Chelsea-Arsenal rivalry. They started winning more games and more important games like they did in 2007 League Cup Final. This was the final League Cup final to be played in Cardiff as the new Wembley Stadium was now ready.

Though, the teams don't consider each other their main rivals, but there has always been strong needle between the fans dating back to the 1930s.

Head-2-Head

Arsenal wins Draw Chelsea wins

League: 59 44 41

FA Cup 8 6 5

League Cup 2 0 3

Other 0 1 2

Total 69 51 49

As, both chelsea and Arsenal are in good form, it is ok to say that this match may decide this seasons champion.

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Who Should Deputize Alexandre Song When He Goes to the African Nations?

Callum D'Souza — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:08:53 -0500

Alexandre Song was easily the most criticized Arsenal midfielder during Arsenal's poor season in 2008/2009. Early lackluster performances enabled the Arsenal fans to slag off the Cameroonian. But 2009/2010 has seen the 22-year-old become a mature defensive midfielder who is playing superb football.

His physicality and strength have meant opposing midfield attacks are immediately shredded. Arsenal have lacked a central defensive midfielder since the departure of Patrick Vieira in 2005, but Song looks to have covered that loss.

Unfortunately for Arsenal the inform midfielder departs in January to participate in the African Nations Cup with Cameroon. This brings the question who should deputize for him whilst he is away? Arsene Wenger has insisted Samir Nasri will not, so who should it be?

Abou Diaby

The lanky Frenchman is blessed with height and physique and was thought to be the next Patrick Vieira. Although he has began playing a more attacking role, playing him in the defensive role during Song's absence wouldn't be a bad option.

He is capable of being a very strong defender and his height would be more than useful.

Denilson

Denilson was in and out of the defensive midfielder role last season. Although he lacks the strength of Song and Diaby he is still capable of portraying the "invisible wall."

Denilson is known to perform vital defensive tasks without receiving credit. Although the Brazilian is more preffered in an attacking role he is a credible option.

Aaron Ramsey

The talented Welsh teenage is fulfilling his potential this season and with Song out of action during January this could be a great opportunity to stamp his foot down on a starting birth. The former Cardiff midfielder has shown glimpses of great talent this season and thanks to his childhood rugby games, the Wales international lacks nothing in physicality.

Francis Coquelin

The French teenage ,who is touted as the next Vieira/Makelele, has only featured in the League Cup since joining the Gunners from Laval last season. However, it is evident the teenager has a huge future and is certainly capable of fulfilling Song's role.

Experience can only strengthen the youngster's growth so there would be no harm in giving Coquelin a chance.

Mark Randall

Not quite on the fringe of first team football but currently a cup starter. The Englishman is also a suitable option. Randall is a young, strong, quick, and intelligent midfielder who has potential to be the next big thing. Although he may seek a loan move in January, playing Randall in Song's absence also wouldn't hurt.

Emmanuel Frimpong

Yet to make his first team debut for the Gunners, Frimpong is definitely one for the future. The teenage is also tipped as the next Vieira with his strength and intelligence. Although it may be a little early to gift him Premiership experience, it could work.

Kieran Gibbs

Although primarily a left back Gibbs has played a heavy amount of football as a central midfielder. His strength, pace and calmness allow hims to be a strong defender and his

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Arsene Wenger's Central Thinking Can Solve Arsenal's Striking Problems

Alex Stamp — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:56:14 -0500

As Robin Van Persie was stretchered off on Saturday night, you would have forgiven Arsene Wenger for bemoaning his own rotten luck. Losing a player of Van Persie's stock and standing would hurt any team, let alone a team set up with the Dutch man as their attacking spearhead.

The Dutchman has been one of Arsenal's stand out figures in what has been a resurgent campaign for Arsene Wenger's team after last season's various trials and tribulations, especially in the wake of Emmanuel Adebayor's departure.

Yet with his injury, and the groin injury suffered by Nicklas Bendtner, how Arsenal cope with their latest injury crisis could play a big part in how they fare this season.

Conventional wisdom dictates that Eduardo would be the man to step up. The Croatian, fresh from signing a new long-term contract at the club, has a goal-scoring record which is the envy of many strikers around Europe.

His record at international level stands at a phenomenal 18 goals from 28 appearances, while for Arsenal he has 18 goals in 48 appearances, and Wenger said: “We all look forward to enjoying Eduardo's performances in an Arsenal shirt for a long time to come.”

The question over Eduardo is not about ability, but more suitability and durability. A class act facing goal, the way in which Wenger's team play means that as the attacking spearhead he would be required to act as the focal point teeing up his fellow forwards or play-making adroitly.

Yet Eduardo's game is not built around that, his quality has always been dropping deep to support a front-man, as he has for Emmanuel Adebayor in his first season at Arsenal, and Ivica Olic for Croatia.

Furthermore, questions can be asked about whether a striker who has only recently recovered from a career-threatening injury can stand up to the rigours of consistent first team football.

Eduardo has been cursed with a series of niggles, which are commonplace for players recovering from injuries, and with only four starts all season-Arsenal fans will be praying the Croatian can survive a punishing Winter schedule of 11 games in almost 40 days.

Another option could be Carlos Vela , the tricky Mexican striker whose impressive cameos hint at a bright future. Yet first team action has been sadly lacking for the 21-year old, with only ten starts in his Arsenal career yet he has still managed to score six goals, including some beautiful finishes against Sheffield United and Burnley in the cup competitions.

However, his lack of exposure in the Arsenal team perhaps demonstrates that for all his promise, his time has not yet come. Similarly his problem could be his similarity to his fellow striker Eduardo.

Lightning quick, skillful and a wonderful finisher, Vela's quality is best served working as a deep-lying attacker rather than fulfilling a lone front-running role which is currently required.

Beyond that the striking cupboard is strikingly bare. For the depth of Wenger's resources is vast, it is mainly built on creative attacking midfielders rather than striking spearheads.

One possible call-up could be for the young French striker Gilles Sunu , who fulfilled the role of lone front-runner for the club's Youth Cup winners last season.

Big, muscular and pacey, he has fans among the club's youth team coaches, but the step-up to the first team is perhaps too big right now. Beyond that, there is plenty of promise but little in the way of match-ready players.

Perhaps then the answer lies not so much in changing the man but changing the system to suit the man. Arsenal are a team built to bring out the best in their attacking flair, yet tweaking their system does not necessarily destroy what they have thus far built this season.

One real possibility for Wenger to consider is the idea of utilising a striker, not so much as an attacking spearhead, but in a position widely termed “the false nine.” This is a position where the centre forward tends to drops deep from their traditional position and therefore becomes harder to mark.

This system was successfully utilised recently by Barcelona last season who played Lionel Messi in such a role, but also Roma under Luciano Spalletti who had Francesco Totti playing as the forward dropping.

It is a system which has it's weaknesses-not least the lack of safe option up front for a defence to clear too when under pressure-but in the circumstances it could well be Arsenal's best option.

When you consider that in the likes of Andrei Arshavin, Abou Diaby, Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, plus the aforementioned Eduardo and Vela, finding players creative and adept enough to perform the role adequately will not be an issue, it is a real option to consider. Perhaps then Andrei Arshavin , who performs the role of deep-lying forward behind a front-man with such typical brilliance for Russia, would be a real option to consider.

But whatever the answer may be for Arsenal, their striking problems will certainly require some thinking from their esteemed manager and could be central to their hopes for the season.

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France Cheats Its Way Past Heroic Ireland To South Africa

Willie Gannon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:33:02 -0500

France cheated their way to South Africa tonight after Ireland succumbed to a travesty of justice as Thierry Henry handled the ball twice in the build up to William Gallas' winning goal.

It was an outrageous way to win the match after Ireland had taken the game to their "mighty" opponents and put in the kind of performance that the players will remember for years.

Going into the game all eyes were on Paris as Irish fans descended on the city in their thousands. The French Football Federation only supplied the FAI with 8,000 tickets but almost 20,000 fans defied the recession to support the boys in green.

Ireland were expected to play the game as tight as possible but they caught Raymond Domenech and the French team off guard as they tore into their illustrious opponents right from the start.

The manner of the Irish performance was a joy to see. Giovani Trappatoni seemed to have encouraged his side to be as adventurous as possible and their ambition was there for all to see.

Ireland's midfield was immense, with Damien Duff and Liam Lawrence standing out as they inflicted their game upon the French and Patrice Evra and Sagna in particular.

All the omens were against Ireland going into this match. The Irish had not beaten a team seeded higher than them away from home since 1987, under Domenech France had only ever lost one on home soil, and no team to ever take the lead in an away leg had ever lost a UEFA playoff.

But Ireland have never lost when Robbie Keane scored.

And score he did.

The Tallaght man was immense all night, his work-rate was phenomenal, his touch exquisite, and his radar for goal on full alert.

If you had just turned the match on you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was the French who were dictating play, such was Ireland's dominance.

And their goal was a thing of beauty.

Having gone close through Doyle and Keane in the minutes leading into the opening strike. Ireland twisted the knife and cut the French defence apart as they moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other before Damien Duff raced onto Kilbane's perfectly weighted through ball. The boy from Ballyboden then picked out Tottenham Hotspur's Keane, who had pulled out to the penalty spot, and he twisted his body to suit the path of the ball and simply passed it past the superb Lloris to give Ireland a well deserved lead.

Ireland continued their dominance until half time, and it was just one of those days when France were literally saved by the bell.

France were expected to come out and take the game to the superior Irish, but again Ireland were the better side.

Time after time they cut France apart, and Shay Given was a forelorn figure in the Irish goal as none of the much celebrated French strikers troubled him at all.

Liam Lawrence was the chief architect for Ireland's best chances in the second half, as his beautiful through ball found Damien Duff clear on goal with on Lloris to beat.

The young Lyon 'keeper spread himself well to block Duff's effort, but the Fulham wingers strike was straight at his foil and barely tested him.

Minutes later, Lawrence wriggled his way past two defenders before prodding the ball to Keane who skipped past Gallas and into a one-on-one with Lloris. He sold him a beautiful dummy to leave the goal open, but his initial touch was too heavy and the ball ran agonizingly wide as the Spurs man held his head in wonder.

The misses were to prove costly as the game moved into extra time. The Irish, beginning to wilt after their phenomenal effort made a couple of changes to spice thing up, but their bench is their Achilles heel, and without the likes of Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Stephen Ireland, Chris McCann, Stephen Kelly, and Steve Finnan, Ireland were always going to struggle as their team got pushed to it's limit.

Even still, the French failed to make any chances of note and Thierry Henry was only a peripheral figure as the game moved towards extra time.

With Ireland tiring, France gained more possession, but heroic defending from the men in green denied them time and space, and whoever scored the next goal would almost certainly win the game.

The knockout blow came from a set-piece that Ireland failed to deal with, but on closer examination, the goal should never have been allowed.

Martin Hansson had a very good game and made right decisions throughout the night, most notably Nicolas Anelka's dive when moving past Given.

But he and his assistants made grave errors as France had two men in an offside position as the free kick was taken, then Richard Dunne was pulled over as he attempted to clear the ball, and then Thierry Henry handled the ball twice to keep in it play and then picked out Gallas on the line to head home France's winner.

It was the cruelest of blows for the heroic Irish, as France had barely threatened the Irish goal all evening. To lose to blatant cheating from one of the games great players is one thing but for the referee to miss key decisions in the build up to the goal is unforgivable.

Liam Brady, Ireland's assistant manager, ahd called for stern refereeing in the playoffs after UEFA President, Michel Platini, had decided to seed the playoffs to aid the higher seeded teams progress to South Africa.

It is a bitter pill for Ireland to swallow. When a player of Thierry Henry's calibre cheats to win, it leaves a stain on the game.

And now UEFA and FIFA will most probably do their best to sweep this ugly incident under the carpet.

Kevin Doyle spoke magnanimously about Henry after the match, saying that "any player would probably do the same. It's a natural instinct. But for the referee to miss it, and for the linesman not to call it after he had a clear view...well...."

The incident will further the calls for video evidence, but it is hard to see Michel Platini backing away from his extra two referee experiment which is due to start next season.

Marco Tardelli said the game had "diminished" after Henry's foul.

And he does have a point.

Diving and cheating have the ability to ruin the game, and it is hard to imagine the likes of an elite sportsman in any other code cheating to win.

Tiger Woods has owned up to fouls when he could take advantage of a situation, as has Roger Federer.

Henry is in that league of sportsman, and tonight he will hold his head in shame.

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Ireland's Giovanni Trapattoni May Regret Omitting Sunderland's Andy Reid

Owen Watson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:52:58 -0500

Ireland face France this evening in an attempt to secure a place in the World Cup. They travel to the Stade de France, knowing that a victory is required to keep their hopes alive. At the time of writing they lead the game 1-0 after a goal by Robbie Keane.

By the time you read this article, though, the match may well have been decided. In all likelihood, despite the setback, France will have qualified for next summer’s tournament in South Africa.

But will manager Giovanni Trapattoni be regretting his decision to leave out Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid?

Reid has been in stunning form for Sunderland so far this season. Left out at the start of the campaign by manager Steve Bruce, the Irishman got a chance to stake his claim against Norwich City in the League Cup.

His performance was nothing short of magnificent; Reid scored twice as Sunderland claimed a 4-1 victory.

Reid was dropped to the bench a few days later when the Black Cats travelled to Stoke and lost 1-0. But he returned to the starting lineup against Hull and got on the score sheet again as Sunderland earned a 4-1 victory.

Since then Reid has arguably been Sunderland’s best player, firmly cemented his place in the starting lineup. His performances haven’t caught the eye of his national coach, however, as Trapattoni continues to extend a frosty shoulder to the Dublin-born midfielder since a disciplinary incident in 2008.

Reid, for his part, is trying not to dwell on his international exile.

"It's not on my mind," Reid insisted. "There's nothing I can do except do what I am doing and perform for Sunderland.

"My problem would be if I was chosen, and then I would have to perform on an international platform."

"Everyone wants to play in a World Cup, but it's not down to me."

It’s that last sentence that may be echoing in Irish ears tonight, as this is arguably the best chance Ireland have to qualify for the tournament. They are playing France, who are a highly ranked team, but have also been woeful during qualifying, and are coached by a man who should have been relieved of his duties on multiple occasions.

That Ireland have taken the lead in this game demonstrates that they have a real chance to qualify. But the question is: Would Andy Reid increase those chances?

The answer must be, undoubtedly, yes.

Ireland’s midfield consists of: Damien Duff, Keith Andrews, Glenn Whelan, and Liam Lawrence. Reid is far superior to each of these players. There is no doubt that, if Trapattoni was picking on form, Reid would be the first name on the team sheet.

Reid has the quality that can tell in a game of this nature, he is able to create a moment of magic that unlocks a defence. His crossing is excellent and he is a real threat at set pieces. As the game draws on, these qualities could become invaluable to the Irish cause.

I really hope tonight doesn’t become a night of regrets for Ireland. I’ve got a soft spot for both of these teams, but the way FIFA have implemented this farcical ranking system in the playoff means I am whole-heartedly rooting for the underdogs in these ties, and there is no bigger scalp available than France.

If Ireland do go on to win this game and qualify for the World Cup next year, I hope that Trapattoni will reconsider his decision to steadfastly ignore the Sunderland resident. But I won’t hold my breath.

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Liverpool V Man City: Rafa's Reds Must Slam Top Four Door in City's Face

Sam Dalton — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:47:41 -0500

After embarking on a miserable run of only one win in nine, after conceding goals left, right and centre to the likes of Birmingham, Sunderland, and Fulham, and after showing such desperation in matches that a player has needed to dive to rescue a point against a relegation struggler, Liverpool appear to have left the door open to the VIP party of the Champions League.

Manchester City, Tottenham, and Aston Villa all sense the chance to gatecrash the biggest show in town, all ready to pounce on Liverpool’s failings this season. This weekend offers the perfect chance for Rafa Benitez and his team to slam the door firmly shut in their face.

When Liverpool kick-off against Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime, it will be time for Benitez’s depleted squad to show Robinho and co. that gaining entry to next season’s Uefa showpiece will not be as simple as might currently appear so.

Liverpool look a mid-table side at the moment, shambolic in one box and wasteful in the other, yet once the half of the squad which currently lie on the treatment table have returned to fully-fledged match action, and once the dream team of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are finally firing as a double-act again, Liverpool will begin to look more like title contenders.

Too many points have already been dropped for Benitez’s team to be a genuine title threat to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal this season, but there is no reason why Liverpool can’t replicate the scintillating form they produced in the last few months of last season.

The squad is almost identical, so why can’t the results be?

Injuries has been the main reason so far, and Man City surely recognise that Liverpool’s challenge for the fourth Champions League spot will intensify dramatically once the club’s medical staff finally get a few days off. Fernando Torres will replace David N’Gog; Alberto Aqualani will replace Lucas; Fabio Aurelio will replace Emiliano Insua and captain fantastic Steven Gerrard will roar back into action in attacking midfield. What a difference.

Once Liverpool’s squad is fully fit and firing, Man City should beware. When Benitez can field his strongest eleven, as he could do in last season’s climax, there are few better teams in Europe.

Liverpool’s manager will have to add strength in depth to his squad so that injuries don’t make so much of an impact in future, but Liverpool’s current squad is still good enough to comfortably secure a Champions League spot, even with the odd injury.

Though Xabi Alonso’s departure to Madrid was clearly a major loss, Liverpool still boast a formidable nucleus.

With Jamie Carragher marshaling the defence, Javier Mascherano roaming deep and biting into tackles, Steven Gerrard raiding forward and scoring goals and Fernando Torres always liable to flash in a lightning finish, on paper Liverpool are supreme.

If that sublime spine can stay fit for the majority of the remainder of the season, and if other important players like Yossi Benayoun, Glen Johnson, and Dirk Kuyt can stay off the treatment table, then Liverpool should coast to fourth place.

If Benitez can get Liverpool playing anywhere near as well as they were in large periods of last season, when they did the double over Chelsea and Manchester United and thrashed Newcastle 5-1, then Liverpool will simply have too much for most teams.

Manchester City, on the other hand, have had an almost full-fit squad so far this season, and have struggled to beat promoted sides like Birmingham and Burnley. In future years, when Mark Hughes adds more quality to his squad, particularly in defence, then Man City may seriously consider themselves a likely top four team.

For now, though, a fully-fit Liverpool will always beat them to the Champions League. As more and more players gradually pick themselves off the treatment table, Rafa Benitez’s side must start to show why they are still one of the best four teams in England—starting on Saturday lunchtime

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