Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
England Comment: Goodbye, Theo - Shaun Wright-Phillips Shows Why Walcott Shouldn't Go To The 2010 World Cup
All pace and no end product works against Sven's surprise 2006 selection
Mar 3, 2010 11:10:00 PM
زيزو
The stage was set tonight for Theo Walcott to book his place in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad and re-assume his position as England’s latest young ace.
In the past, the likes of Michael Owen, David Beckham and Paul Gascoigne have all become overnight superstars thanks to their dazzling World Cup displays and how England fans had dearly hoped that Walcott could be the next
But on a night which saw England struggle to get going against a skilful and confident Egypt side, the Arsenal star not only fluffed his lines - he found himself upstaged by his rival for a right-wing berth
He is likely to pick two – or at a push - three – out of those four.
Beckham, for his dead ball threat will go. Wright-Phillips will surely be high up on Capello’s list following tonight’s display and should Lennon recover and get some playing time under his belt by May, he possesses the guile and craft that means he cannot be ruled out.
But on current form, Walcott has done little to warrant even being in Capello’s thoughts before he names his group of 22 players on June 1.
Indeed he was fortunate to start today’s match, after a series of below par performances from Arsenal this season after he returned from injury.
Capello gave him a chance – and he blew it.
Several times, he lost the ball too easily to Said Moawad or Hossam Ghaly and when his team-mates found him, he ran into blind alleys, unable to find a trick to beat the full back.
Tonight’s display was a far cry from Zagreb in September 2008, when Walcott became the youngest-ever England player to score a hat-trick.
But injuries and being in-and out of the Arsenal team mean that he has failed to develop as a player.
Nevertheless by being young, English and nice he gets an awful lot of good will.
Walcott is well-spoken, polite young man who many people instantly like after meeting him. We all want him to do well.
Speaking ahead of the match, Arsenal legend Alan Smith told
“I am worried about Theo, as he has not been playing as well as we all know he can. Tonight’s a big, big night for him and I hope he makes the most of it.”
Sadly for Smith, and all the millions of others who were willing him on, Walcott did not.
In 2006 he was Sven Goran Eriksson’s surprise selection for his World Cup squad before the Swede took a real look at him in training and realised he was just far too young to play for England in Germany. Four years later little has changed.
On the football pitch, he is still a boy amongst men and should not be going to the World Cup.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
10 Most Hated Football Teams (Goal.com)
Champions League rivals Inter and Chelsea have been two of the most unpopular squads in recent seasons. Ahead of tomorrow's game at San Siro, Carlo Garganese takes a look at 10 other hated teams over the years...
By Carlo Garganese
Feb 23, 2010 2:00:00 PM
Hacked off Milan trying to chase Kaka, hacked off
Quite a mouthful, but you get the point!
9) Arsenal 1986-1995
‘Boring, Boring Arsenal’. It is hard to believe now when you consider the delightful football under
The Scotsman – incidentally a skilful midfielder during his playing days at Highbury – built his XI on a mean back four of Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn. Graham’s Arsenal have been the closest English version of 1960s Italian Catenaccio. ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ to the tune of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Go West’ was another common crowd chant.
With very little technical talent throughout the team, Graham’s Arsenal often relied purely on the prolific Ian Wright for goals. They still won two titles in 1989 and 1991, playing slightly more offensively. But they became hated on the continent when they lifted the
8) Italy – Always
On the international scene, Italy have probably been the most consistently disliked country – especially in northern Europe where the clash of cultures is just too much to take.
On the footballing side Italy are stereotypically depicted as pragmatic and ultra-defensive, wasting some excellent attacking talent in favour of tactics. They are also considered as the creators of professionalism. Shirt-pulling, diving, conning the referee – or as it is known in Italy ‘furbo’ (being crafty).
Off the pitch, there is undoubtedly a sense of jealousy. Few can doubt that many Italian footballers are extremely good looking, as for the women let's not even get started. The confident and expressive personalities of many Italians is also something that can irritate non-latin nations, who often cheer an Italian World Cup exit.
7)
After winning their first championship in 26 years in 1993,
First of all, they have often been painted as a lucky team (others would say they have incredible character) due to the high number of late goals they scored – especially in the 1990s. When Ferguson won his first title in 1993, this chiefly came about after defender Steve Bruce scored two injury time goals to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Then, of course, there was the 1999 Champions League final against
Many United fans are often termed as ‘gloryhunters’ – i.e. they only support the club because they are successful. This can be seen, apparently, by the relatively small number of followers from Manchester. Most Mancunians are City fans. Another bone of contention revolves around the referees, with United said to benefit more than any other team from officials.
6)
The Bianconeri are by far the most successful domestic team on the peninsula with 29/27 Scudetti (depending on your viewpoint). They have often been described as a lucky team, scoring many late goals to win games over the years. Like United, fans of Juve are spread all over the country with most Turin-locals supporting Torino. This has led to similar ‘gloryhunter’ complaints.
Juventus have also been accused of benefiting from refereeing decisions. The most controversial revolved around the conclusion to the 1981 and 1982 championships, as well to a lesser extent the 1998 Scudetto. The 2006 Calciopoli scandal damaged Juve’s image internationally.
5) Greece 2004
Prior to Euro 2004, the Greeks had only qualified for two major tournaments in their entire history – Euro 1980 and World Cup 1994 – where they had played 6 in total, lost five, drawn 1, scored 1, and conceded 14. A team of no big names coached by German country bumpkin legend Otto Rehhagel, only Latvia were less favoured than the Greeks.
Yet, Rehhagel implemented a perfect gameplan whereby Greece would sit back and soak up pressure before punishing the opposition on set-pieces and counter-attack. Greece made it out of a group including hosts Portugal, and Spain, beating the former in the opening game. They then stunned holders France 1-0 in the quarter final, beat favourites the
This had been the biggest shock in international football history, but the Greeks were panned by much of the international press. They were labelled by many as a “set-piece team”, with the term ‘anti-football’ regularly thrown about.
4) Don Revie’s Leeds United
The Leeds United of the late 1960s and early 1970s are widely acknowledged as the most hated team in English football history.
On the pitch they were an outstanding team blessed with exceptional players such as Peter Lorimer, Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner. Although they ‘only’ won two championships, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one
Like a number of teams on this list, Revie’s men were a very physical side, earning the nickname ‘Dirty Leeds’ and often being criticised by the press and in particular Brian Clough. Hardmen such as Bremner and Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter sent shivers down the spines of opponents. Hunter was involved in a number of notorious punch-ups during his career, including during a Cup Winners’ Cup final defeat to Milan as well as an infamous incident with Derby’s Francis Lee.
Despite their brilliance, this Leeds side is not fondly remembered by the English press, which is a shame because they are undoubtedly one of the UK’s greatest ever teams.
3) Estudiantes 1967-1970
As brutal teams go, few come any more brutal than the Estudiantes squad that won the 1967 Argentine Metropolitano, as well as three successive
Coach Osvaldo Zubeldia implemented a physical style of play, centred around intimidating opponents. Tactical fouls were common, as were off-the-ball cheapshots. Ironically the club’s nickname at the time was La Tercera que Mata (The Killer Juveniles).
The 1969 Intercontinental Cup defeat to Milan has been labelled ‘Vergüenza de La Plata’ – the ‘Embarrassment of La Plata’. Estudiantes won the game 2-1 (but lost 4-2 on aggregate) in one of the most violent games in history. So shocking was the viciousness that the entire team was arrested after the game under the orders of Argentine president Juan Carlos Ongania.
The notoriously violent Aguirre Suarez who broke a bone in Nestor Combin’s face, and goalkeeper Alberto Poletti, were sent to jail. Combin appeared on Italian TV after the game with his face looking like the back end of a bus.
2)
Just like
The hatred officially began at the start of the 1970s at a time when Bayern had only won two German championships in their history. There was a huge rivalry between Bayern and another great team of this era Borussia Monchengladbach. The neutrals seemed to warm to Die Fohlen, and the team symbolised by Gunter Netzer became every German’s second team.
Bayern were often attacked on their travels around Germany, despite containing many of the legendary Germany team that won Euro ’72 and World Cup ’74 such as Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Paul Breitner. There were a number of punch-ups with fans, which helped consolidate Franz Roth’s nickname of ‘The Bull’. Beckenbauer once pretended to urinate at abusive away fans while goalkeeper Sepp Maier knocked a Hannover supporter clean out when he was told: “I’m going to kill you, you Bayern pig.”
The Bayern of the 70s were also often accused of being lucky. Germans call it Bayern-Dusel. There is no doubt that Bayern enjoyed more than their fair share of fortune continentally. Had the club lost all three of the consecutive European Cup finals in 1974, 75 and 76, no one could have complained. They were outplayed in the first by
Bayern also seemed to exemplify the stereotype that Germans are the best at organising parties, but the worst at actually throwing them. They rarely celebrated these victories with any kind of passion, which also irritated their enemies.
1) Argentina 1990
Argentina 1990 are undoubtedly the most universally-detested World Cup team of all time. The then holders somehow made it all the way to the Rome final, despite containing just two players with any real attacking ability - Claudio Caniggia, and
Carlos Bilardo’s men were the modern definition of anti-football. They scraped their way through the group stage, having lost to Cameroon in the opener, and having beaten the USSR only after Maradona had a clear handball off the line not spotted by the referee.
In the second round against Brazil, Argentina defended with 10 men behind the ball, and were battered from start to finish by their bitter rivals, only to win 1-0 courtesy of their one attack of the game, a piece of Maradona genius in the second half, who set up Caniggia for the winner.
The negativity continued in the quarter final against a far superior Yugoslavia, who played 90 minutes with 10 men. The game went to penalties, where Sergio Goycochea, a clown of a goalkeeper who could do nothing except save spotkicks, proved to be the hero.
Onto the semi-final against Italy in Naples. In truth the Azzurri did not play their best game but they were the only side trying to attack, and all looked good after Toto Schillaci gave them an early lead. Caniggia equalised in the 67th minute following an horrendous Walter Zenga mistake, and Argentina resorted to their negative, spoiling tactics. They wasted time at every opportunity, and it couldn’t have been any clearer that they were playing for a shootout, which they won again thanks to Goycochea.
Anti-football won the day, and never could this have been more illustrated than by the fact that Roberto Donadoni, the brilliantly skilful Milan winger, who had been unplayable all night, and the clear man-of-the-match, ended up being the man who missed the most decisive spot-kick.
In the final itself against West Germany, Argentina played for penalties from the first whistle. Their shameful pessimism contrived to make this the worst final in the whole history of the World Cup, yet ironically they were defeated by an 85th minute penalty by Andreas Brehme. It was never a penalty in a million years, but many would say that justice had been served.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Poll Results
Well the first poll has ended today with some interesting results! The poll was about which team you guys think would get the last golden ticket to Europe's premier competition for next year and personally I think Manchester City is best placed to take that spot. However, it seems still a considerable amount of people do believe in Liverpool and think that eventually they will end up in that coveted fourth spot. Aston Villa also has a few supporters who think they will give the other candidates a run for their money but surprisingly Tottenham didn't register a single vote in favor of them signaling that people still think they are some way off of getting there. So the poll ended with total votes of 12(that's a start!!!) 2 for Villa and 5 each for City and Liverpool making them the joint favourites for the fourth spot. So Rafa wherever you are don't lose hope cause you still have an equal chance of finishing fourth as Man City and THAT"S A FACT!!!!
By the way a new poll has been opened so have fun and cheers till next time.
By the way a new poll has been opened so have fun and cheers till next time.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Picks of the week (POW)
Hey guys!!!!
Was really bz this week wit xams so there wasn't any activity on the page. BUT, I'm bak for the weekend!!!
These are my picks for this week not really bothered to pick a bench as its really a waste of time. The picks are just suggestions on who u can look to get in this week in specific positions solely based on the the games that will b played this week.
Was really bz this week wit xams so there wasn't any activity on the page. BUT, I'm bak for the weekend!!!
These are my picks for this week not really bothered to pick a bench as its really a waste of time. The picks are just suggestions on who u can look to get in this week in specific positions solely based on the the games that will b played this week.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Updates
A weekly poll has been added which will be changed every week please feel free to vote and also a bbc feed has been added for the latest news in English premier league football. Link to my fantasy epl team and other details will be posted soon. Enjoy
Welcome
Hi guys, this is my first time blogging. Just always wanted to share my thoughts and opinions on football and then I found out about blogging through my university IT course and thought I should give it a go and see how it goes. So as I'm just starting out and getting up to speed with this expect more and more activities on here as days turn weeks and weeks turn into months. Right now I'll only be posting links and my personal opinions on English Premier League and updates on my fantasy team. So just hang around and will see you guys in a bit. CHEERS
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