By Joe, www.Bettingexpert.com

Adebayor created all the headlines for the wrong reason in the recent tie. Could he be back with some more?

Midweek football and this time it’s the quarterfinals for the Carling Cup. Arsenal will travel to Manchester City Wednesday evening in order to fight it out for a place in the semifinal. Both sides have recently distant themselves from the Premiership title and it looks likely they will have to find some silverware this season elsewhere.

Manchester City reached the quarterfinals by beating Scunthorpe 5-1 at home in the last round. A few of their key players played that night, Stephan Ireland, Carlos Tevez and Lescott were presented that night. Manager Mark Hughes will most likely deploy a more or less first eleven with a few bench players given a rare start like Roque Santa Cruz. The Saudi own club wants to win all the silverware they can get this season and the League Cup could be their realistic target for now.

The Gunners will have to find their spirits in order to overcome one of the richest clubs in England. They lost 3-0 in the weekend to Chelsea at the Emirates and the title hopes could have also dashed as Manager Arsene Wenger further complained about his injury list causalities. Wenger will be sticking to his policy in fielding his youngest so expect players like Vela, Eduardo, Denilson, Walcott, Ramsey and Fabianksi to start. Arsenal excels in the Carling Cup and they can’t be underestimated in this competition.

The dilemma lies with Manchester City’s boss, does he field a strong team and get embarrassed by Arsenal under-18 team or field a weaker side and lose to the Gunners? Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 to get the quarterfinals so whoever Wenger fields on the day could well do the job. The Gunners youngsters are well hungry for some silverware and the question for the City, are you? The last time these two teams met in the Carling Cup at the Manchester City stadium, Arsenal won 2-1 and advance through to the next round.

Visit www.BettingExpert.com for great betting advices and tips football, tennis and many other sports. There are many online casino reviews and promotions for you to enjoy.

Register yourself on the Bettingexpert.com twitter to keep up with sports, bonus codes and live sports.

Mit dem Nahen Osten hatten wir Fussballverfolger bis vor kurzem wenig am Hut.

Katar, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate, Kuwait? Das war fussballerisch gesehen das Gleiche wie Zypern, Kongo oder Neuseeland, nämlich; Niemandsland.

Ab und zu hörte man von alternden Ex-Stars, die ihren Leistungszenit nur noch aus dem Fotoalbum kannten und aufgrund ihres Namens und ihrer Berühmtheit in die Wüste geholt wurden, um vor dem Ruhestand noch einmal gutes Geld für lockeres Kicken zu verdienen. Das wars.
Die Wüsten-Engagements der Effenbergs und Baslers ließen damals auf den ersten Blick auf zwei Tatsachen schließen: Dort unten scheint irgendwo, irgendjemand viel Geld zu haben und dem Fussball nicht abgeneigt zu sein.

Inzwischen aber hat die Vermutung von damals eine neue Ära im Weltfussball eingeläutet, denn:

Die Scheichs sind da.

Am 01.September 2008 wurde der Stein ins Rollen gebracht und erschütterte die Fussballwelt:
die Abu Dhabi Investment Group, die zehn Prozent der weltweiten Ölreserven besitzt, kaufte den englischen, hoch verschuldeten Traditionsverein Manchester City.
Inzwischen hat man sich an die alltäglichen Scheich-Schlagzeilen gewöhnt: der Eine kauft Portsmouth, der Andere bezeichnet sich charmant als Bulldozer, der jedes Hindernis in der Fussballwelt aus dem Weg räumen werde, der Nächste will Aktionär beim AC Mailand werden.

Um die Gründe für den plötzlichen Ansturm der Scheichs zu erfahren, wenden wir uns für einen Moment zunächst vom Fussball ab und der allgemeinen Situation des Nahen Ostens zu.
Das Gebiet der heutigen Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate bestand bis vor 50 Jahren nur aus Sand, doch dann ging alles ganz schnell: In den 60er Jahren wurden die ersten Ölfelder entdeckt, 1971 schlossen sich die sieben Emirate Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah und Fujairah zusammen und teilten fortan den Ölreichtum, und danach wurde bis heute der technische Fortschritt zweier Jahrhunderte nachgeholt. So kommt es, dass wir heute bei Dubai an das teuerste Hotel der Welt denken und nicht an Wüstendörfer. Der aktuell reichste Scheich Fahd Ibn Abd Al-Asis soll 40 Milliarden Öl-Dollar besitzen und jeden Tag an die 3 Millionen Euro ausgeben.

Öl haben sie also, die Scheichs, Kohle dadurch auch reichlich, schön für sie. Sollen sie ihre Luxushotels, Einkaufszentren und Riesenvillen bauen, doch was wollen sie mit mittelmäßigen, englischen Fussballklubs?

Scheich Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan ist der Sohn des Gründervaters der VAE, besitzt 17 Milliarden Dollar und ist seit einem Jahr der Besitzer von Manchester City. Versetzen wir uns einmal in seine Gedankenwelt vor der Übernahme:

“Das mit Ferrari war wohl nix. Gut, jetzt gehören mir 5 Prozent davon und dadurch haben wir ab 2009 die Formel 1 bei uns in Abu Dhabi, weltbekannt bin ich aber immer noch nicht. Ich habe 17 Milliarden, verdammt! Mein Vater hat die Vereinigten Emirate gegründet! So einen kennt keiner außerhalb von Abu Dhabi? Das muss sich ändern.
Mal sehen, ich brauche etwas, das jeder kennt, jeder liebt, und dass mich dadurch auch bekannt macht. Finanziell lohnen muss es sich auch, bin ja schließlich Geschäftsmann. Hmmm…
Wie wärs mit Fussball? Ich kauf mir einfach ein stinknormales Mittelmaßteam, danach die besten Fussballer der Welt und schon bin ich der Held. Das ist es! Dieser eine Christiano Nochwas soll doch der Beste zurzeit sein? Oder ist es immernoch Zidane? Egal, um die Kleinigkeiten wird sich dann schon noch jemand kümmern. Mein Schwiegervater, der alte Schnösel aus Dubai, versucht ja seit zwei Jahren, Liverpool zu kaufen und kriegts nicht auf die Reihe. Wenn ich vor dem mein eigenes englisches Team hätte, wie würde der Alte wohl schauen! So mach ichs, England also. Mal sehen, wer dort die meisten Schulden hat..”

Dieser innere Monolog mag zwar ein wenig überspitzt sein und wichtige betriebswirtschaftliche und finanzielle Aspekte der Entscheidung außer Acht lassen, die Hauptmotivation der Übernahmewelle durch die reichen Scheichs macht er aber deutlich:

Ruhm. Anerkennung. Protz. Erfolg. Den Öl-Konkurrenten und anderen Schwerreichen zeigen, wo der Geldhammer hängt.

So soll der oben erwähnte alte Schnösel, nämlich Scheich Mohammed bin Raschid al-Maktum, hauptberuflich Herrscher von Dubai, über die erfolgreiche Übernahme seines Schwiegersohnes in der Tat so erbost sein, dass er nun mehr und verbissener als zuvor daran arbeitet, einen Premier-League-Klub sein Eigentum nennen zu dürfen. So ist das heutzutage bei den Superreichen der Welt:
Was früher Yachten, palastartige Anwesen und Luxusflugzeuge waren, sind heute internationale Fussballvereine.
Und auch die Ruhmrechnung ging auf: durch die Übernahme von Mancity war und ist der Scheich in aller Munde und auch die Fans hatte er kurz nach der Übernahme gleich auf seiner Seite: Nachdem ihnen als Antrittsgeschenk ein gewisser Robinho präsentiert wurde, waren sie begeistert, erschienen in Scharen als Scheich verkleidet im Stadion und wedelten mit Geldscheinen, auf denen das Gesicht des Scheichs abgedruckt war.

Ein Fussballnostalgiker würde wohl sagen: Ölmillionen hin oder her, Titel garantiert das noch lange nicht, da kann der Scheich noch so die reichen Muskeln spielen lassen. Die von Manchester City, schau sie doch mal an. Zehnter sind die geworden letztes Jahr. Zehnter! Pah! Da sieht mans, wichtig is immernoch aufm Platz!

Das stimmt, aber genauso gilt im Fussball auch: Wichtig is aufm Konto.
Denn wer dort am meisten hat, bei dem stehen die besten Spieler aufm Platz. Ein Jahr nach der Übernahme macht der Scheich ernst und so sind nach Robinho inzwischen Spieler wie Gareth Barry, Santa Cruz, Tevez und Adebayor unter Vertrag. Der sportliche Erfolg ist nur noch eine Frage der Zeit.

Wie ist das alles denn nun zu bewerten, die Scheichs, die Millionen, die Transfers?

Das muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden, doch Irgendetwas fühlt sich bei der ganzen Sache nicht richtig an.

Irgendetwas stört Einen daran, dass ein Gareth Barry als Kapitän von Aston Villa den Fans zusichert, dass er nur der Champions-League wegen wechseln würde, um dann zum Tabellenzehnten zu gehen.
Dass die Manchester City-Fans in Zukunft zwar Weltstars zujubeln dürfen, im Hinterkopf aber immer haben müssen, dass diese Spieler vor zwei Jahren über ein Engagement bei City nur gelacht hätten.
Dass ein Robinho am 31.08.2008 erklärt: “Ich will nur zu Chelsea!”, um zwei Tage und ein doppelt so hohes Angebot später bei City unterschreiben.

Geld über alles, Geld über Perspektive, über Erfolg, über Identifikation.

Robinho unterlief bei seiner Vorstellung in Manchester ein Versprecher, der das noch einmal unterstrich:

“Ich bin glücklich darüber, bei Chelsea zu spielen.” , sagte er.

Ist ja auch fast das Gleiche.

Gameweek 14 reaches us as we start the middle third of the season. Week 13 saw few surprises though we did get the highest ever individual score. I made the error of having Fabregas as captain which I didn’t especially feel comfortable with but didn’t have many other options with Lampard and Drogba out injured, and Rooney out of form.

I did have David Dunn but didn’t fancy him due to two away games. In the event he proved me wrong. I regret not bringing in Bullard or Dempsey as I was looking at both pre-deadline. Sometimes it’s better to take the four point hit for the rewards it can bring. Don’t even get me started on having Thomas Sorensen’s 14 points left on the bench…

Gameweek 13 Top Gun (aka Tom Cruise Approves):

When I was looking back over the top scores from last week, I had a moment of panic when I thought there was a three-way 18 point tie for 1^st and I’d have to find another Top Gun character to join Maverick and Goose.

Then I remembered that someone called Jermain Defoe scored five goals against Wigan. Yes, the pint-sized striker scored a full handful of goals and picked up three bonus points. It might just be me but it almost feels like 25 points isn’t enough reward for such a feat. I guess that’s what happens with just four points for a striker’s goal. I’m sure the people who had him as captain weren’t complaining – 50 points was only two off my whole total for the week. Anyway, it’s the highest score ever from one game, even Ronaldo never got that.

As mentioned previously, following Defoe you had Dempsey Hunt and Lennon all with 18 points. The former two took advantage of playing twice while Lennon was the provider of three Defoe goals as well as getting one for himself in that 9-1 victory. A mention too for Michael Essien who scored 16 via two goals and his third man of the match award of the season.

Maverick should really be using all five hand digits to approve of Defoe's performance.

Three Captain Choices:

1. Adebayor/Man City – Every run has to come to an end and I think Man City might finally stop their run of six consecutive draws and beat Hull at home. Hull have picked up since Bullard’s return with two wins and a draw but they’re still leaky at the back while Adebayor scored his first goal in two months against Liverpool. He tends to feast on weaker defences, get bonus points when City play well and thus is a good shout for captain this weekend.

2. Drogba/Chelsea – The best defence faces the best attack this weekend as Chelsea face Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. Normally I wouldn’t suggest picking someone from this fixture but Drogba loves playing Arsenal and has terrorised them down the years. What scares me even more is that due to Gallas being doubtful, there’s a tiny, tiny chance we might see Big Phil Senderos make an appearance. I’m shuddering at the thought, Drogba owns him.

3. Rooney/Man Utd – Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Slightly trickier now that Pompey have Avram Grant newly installed but Rooney and Man Utd should still have more than enough to beat Portsmouth.

Gets a Captain's tick.

Three suggested transfers in:

1. Evra/Man Utd - The French left back has been putting together a good season and in his last few games has picked up and assist and three bonus points. Man Utd should be good for a clean sheet against Portsmouth and after that Man Utd face West Ham, Villa, Wolves and Fulham which should provide a few more opportunities.

2. Johnson or Dann/Birmingham - I’m sure many of you already Joe Hart in your team but why not add Roger Johnson or Scott Dann to your side too? The two centre backs were a newly formed partnership at the start of the season having both been signed from Championship clubs but have adapted to the Premier League well. Johnson is the pricier of the two and more likely to get bonus points but Dann is just £3.9m leaving you plenty of case for elsewhere.

3. Hunt/Hull - Some people’s form rating is skewed by one massive week whereas others are a bit more consistent. If Bullard is out of your price range then Stephen Hunt is a good option having scored five points or more in four of the last five gameweeks.

Might be worth a pick.

Three to avoid:

1. Everton players - They were woeful against Hull and have generally struggled this season. There have been bright spots like Baines and Saha but they have a tough three games (Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea) coming up and then no fixture in week 17. Avoid for now.

2. Gibbs/Arsenal – Just as soon as he was becoming a cheap option while Clichy was out, he breaks a metatarsal and is now out for three months.

3. Owen/Man Utd - Just 24 points so far. The goal against Man City is literally the single good thing he’s done this season. Diouf, N’Gog and Ghilas all have more points. Having said that, what better opponent than Portsmouth to prove me wrong.

Are you taking the mick?

T.

Jack Wilshere is targeting the quarter final game against shitty as his come back game, he hopes they will field their strongest side as he believes we can go on and win the Carling Cup.

I wonder how Kolo and Ade the whore will feel trotting out knowing we only field our babies in this one, how will they feel when they get stuffed by them? The last time Ade played in this cup was the time he head butted a team mate for daring to challenge him, let’s hope he does that this time, he’ll get a smack in the mouth if he did it to the Welsh runt Bellamy, now that would be funny!

I would love Arsene to go through our players and tell us which position he sees them in, so Vela and Nasri on the left, Rosicky, Wilshere and Theo on the right, and so on, just so we could wonder amongst ourselves who might play where.

Suffice to say, I can’t wait for this one, it smacks of that time our kids tonked the scousers 6-3, with Aliadiere and the Beast getting on the scoresheet.

Other news is Wenger is tracking Barcelona winger 18 year old Israeli Gai Assuilin. He is one of their finest young talents, and that would be sweet, sweet, justice for them talking to one of our young kids, Karma if you like.

Get in there Arsenal, that’s what you should be doing.

I don’t know who he’ll pick for the Carling Cup game, and I don’t know if Eastmond will have a better game again, but I would like to see him, Wilshere, Vela, Ramsey, Watt and Coquelin feature along with Eduardo, Eboue and Rosicky for experience, maybe even playing Theo up front with Watt.

We sure do have options, but I want to win this one, what do you think Grovers?

Have a great day debating, I’ll be on later.

Manchester City a aliniat o aparare inchegata din 58 de milioane lire sterline dar tot a incasat trei goluri pe teren propriu de la nou-promovata cu cel mai mic buget si din cel mai mic oras reprezentat in Premier League. Iar al treilea gol, al mijlocasului scotian Kevin McDonald, abia intrat in teren, a condamnat echipa lui Mark Hughes la a cincea remiza la rand.

3-3 acasa cu Burnley, ce incasase 17 goluri in precedentele 5 deplasari de la sosirea in elita, nu suna deloc bine pentru “miliardara” City. Cu acest bilant recent a zburat Hughes si neselectionabilii sai la loturi nationale in Dubai, pentru un intermezzo cu scop de pregatire si reincarcare a bateriilor. Prilej cu care proprietarul azuriilor, seicul Mansour, isi va vedea pentru prima oara jucaria la lucru, intr-un amical cu nationala gazda.

Hughes se va scuza in Golf cum a tot repetat in declaratiile sale, ca echipa are nevoie de timp pentru a se omogeniza. A tot repetat verbul ”to gel”. A se inchega. Gelul cu rol de ungere a relatiilor de joc nu si-a facut inca efect iar linia defensiva Zabaleta – Toure – Lescott – Bridge, cu ultimii trei alipiti in acest an argentinianului, a fost demascata de 3 scotieni ai lui Burnley.

Si nici atacul de multe karate si 72 milioane n-a punctat, Adebayor si Tevez fiind ajutati de-aceasta data de capitanul Kolo Toure si aripile Wright-Phillips si Bellamy.

City mai are timp, Hughes poate nu chiar la fel de mult, dar cert e ca banii n-aduc nici succesul instantaneu, nici fericirea, Sir Alex Ferguson parand a avea momentan dreptate: “City nu e un pericol pentru suprematia lui United”. Pasatul Tevez nu e intre golgeterii campaniei iar trupa lui Hughes are mai putine puncte si sigur mai putini admiratori pentru stilul ei de joc comparativ cu garnitura lansata ca din pusca in 2007 de Sven-Goran Eriksson, pe mai putini bani, la inceputul formei de proprietate straine, de extractie asiatica, de la City of Manchester Stadium.

Thaksin i-a cedat jucaria lui Mansour, ce a decartat sutele de milioane, dar fara ingredientul aici pe nume gel parul fanilor e inca ridicat maciuca de alde nou-promovate ca Burnley. Care cat a costat sa puna de-un unsprezece? Parca opt milioane…

So the first double gameweek came and went and I was not best pleased with Aston Villa’s attempts at getting a clean sheet. I gambled on bringing in Dunne to complement Collins but Villa decided to draw 1-1 with a team who have an injury list big enough to fill a teamsheet (Everton), and then lose to then second bottom team (West Ham).

I guess it was to be expected they weren’t to be relied on with two away games and I’m glad I took my own advice of not going for a Villa or West Ham player as captain. Our suggested choices of Fabregas or Lampard but got double figures and whilst we picked the wrong Burnley player, the thought was correct. Europa League action means half the fixtures are on Sunday/Monday this week and there’s a clash between the top two to look forward too as well.

Gameweek 11 Top Gun (aka Tom Cruise Approves):

Maverick approves of the score but not so much of the hair.

Defenders who score are always likely to threaten the top points scorers lists and so it proved as Burnley’s Graham Alexander scored twice, kept a clean sheet and earnt three bonus points for an excellent score of 21 points. I feel a bit sorry for Aruna Dindane of Portsmouth. Useless/unlucky (depending on who you speak to) up until now, he scores a hat-trick plus assist and three bonus for 20 points which would win Top Gun most weeks.

Elsewhere Joey Craddock was another two goal defender but the lack of clean sheet means just 15 for him, while Van Persie notched his biggest score of the season (and sixth goal in five games) with 15 in the destruction of Spurs.

.

Three Captain Choices:

With Chelsea facing Man Utd at Stamford Bridge it means you should probably look elsewhere for some easier pickings. That said Drogba is perhaps the only player I’d consider from those two this weekend, and depending on who Utd play at centre back may result in another good score for the Ivorian.

1. Van Persie or Fabregas/Arsenal –  Take your pick from these two, both have been in excellent form recently. RvP has six goals, two assists and seven bonus in his last five while Fabregas has two goals, six assists and 12 bonus in his last five. Indeed the Spaniard has been man of the match for the last four games, and has recaptured the form of 06/07 & 07/08 where if Arsenal won you didn’t even have to check as you knew he’d get three bonus. Arsenal face Wolves away and whilst Mick McCarthy’s side have only let in six goals at Molineux so far, they haven’t faced anyone especially good or free scoring. Arsenal are still averaging over three goals a game and while I don’t think it will be a thrashing, either Cesc or RvP should be good for points in a 2-0 win.

2. Adebayor (or maybe Petrov)/Man City – As sure as night follows day, Burnley win at home and lose away. Man City haven’t been great recently with four straight draws but I don’t see Burnley making it five. Adebayor missed last week and is a slight doubt but by it should be clearer later today whether he’s fit. He’s only failed to score or assist in one game so far so should do well against Burnley. Alternatively Martin Petrov is the form player.

3. Dunn/Blackburn – Pompey are the visitors to Ewood Park this week and while they won 4-0 last week I don’t expect a similar outcome. Blackburn are struggling but have been ok at home. Dunn has been by far their best player this season and I would expect him to do something on Saturday.

Gets a Captain's tick

.

Three Potential Transfers In:

1. Dempsey/Fulham – A pre-emptive transfer for Gameweek 13 when Fulham play twice but to be fair he isn’t a bad shout this week. Wigan away (masters of inconsistency) following two goals in two games. I like Dempsey as a player, he tends to get forward to support the strikers and takes a lot of shots. Fulham don’t score that many but he’s a better shout than Zamora who could score in five straight games (as if) and I still wouldn’t bring him in. Only masochists would do that!

2. Gibbs/Arsenal – Now that Clichy is out for at least a month (note: you should take this as Arsenal time which is usually half of real time meaning he’s out for two months at least), Kieran Gibbs gets thrust into the left back role. He’s generally impressed when coming into the team and costs just £4.5m. He’s not as good defensively as Clichy but Arsenal don’t really do clean sheets so that’s not a factor. He’s definitely better going forward though so may get an assist or two down the line.

3. Ivanovic/Chelsea – In a similar scenario to Gibbs, he’s replacing an injured full back in Bosingwa. Quite pricey at £5.6m but cheap for a Chelsea defender. They have six clean sheets already this season.

Might be worth a pick.

.

Three to avoid:

1. Torres/Liverpool – Yes he’s currently top scorer but I feel it’s only a matter of time before his suspected hernia starts keeping him out of games. Rafa talking about how they have to be careful with him does not fill me with confidence. Cash in and use the money on Drogba, RvP or Rooney.

2. Clichy/Arsenal – Out for ages.

3. Burnley players – Three away games in the next four.

Are you taking the mick?

.

T.

I find it quite amusing that he still can’t stop bringing up the story that he was forced out the door at Arsenal, the latest one is Wenger said he wouldn’t get in the starting line up, well that changed from last time when he said we needed the money, now he’s saying that Cesc will leave next and join the other world class stars walking out the Arsenal door. What world class stars, it was you and Kolo wasn’t it?

Anyway, Cesc was quick to come out and say that’s bollocks, he said London’s his home and he has no intention of leaving.

Let me start by saying I’m sorry to anyone in Togo reading this but he must be the only bloke that was shut out of the school gates when he was a kid, he really is thick, I remember when the moron played for us and he talked about the Tigers in Africa, fucking idiot didn’t know Tigers come from Asia.

Well Ade, you aren’t world class, you had one good ‘half’ season, even Flamini had more than that, Kolo was a great player, but that was some time ago and he’s not a patch on Vermaelen, so who exactly have we lost that’s world class? No one, that’s who.

Finally now you’ve started to get offside for shitty, it won’t be long before they turn on you, so if you had half a brain you would stop continually talking about us, and start acting like a City player, stop telling the world you didn’t want to leave or you’ll end up being hated by 6 groups of fans to go with Lomé, Metz, Monaco, Togo, and Arsenal.

I know I said I wouldn’t mention him again, but he does piss me off with his half witted rants.

So it looks like no Rosicky against Spurs tomorrow but I’ll have money Nasri doesn’t get the call over Diaby. I hope like hell I’m wrong, but the smart money is on one of Wenger’s favourites, so Diaby or Eboue will get the nod.

I caused some controversy yesterday when I suggested Eastmond could step up, as at least 4 people disagreed, but you know what? I can’t please everyone, but if they are old enough to play Liverpool, they are old enough to play Spurs. I really rate Coquelin as well so maybe those two will be seen more this season.

Tomorrow is the big one, not big in the scheme of things, but big to shut the spuds the fuck up, every season in memory is going to be the one they break into the top 4, and even a blind squirrel will eventually get an acorn, but not this year Harry, and probably not in your lifetime.

Someone out there needs to explain to me how they spend the money they do and can afford a stadium to rival ours. I heard that Levy publishes a stadium picture every 2 years just to shut the spuds up, perhaps Ade should have played for them, they would be well suited.

Have a great day today Grovers, tomorrow we feast early!

Locul 1 – Zinedine Zidane – Real Madrid – Finala sezonului 2001/2002 (Real Madrid – Bayer Leverkusen 2-1)

Locul 2 – Hugo Almeida – Sporting Lisabona – 2005 (Internazionale – Sporting Lisabona 2-1)

Locul 3 – Mauro Bressan – AC Fiorentina – 1999 (Fiorentina – Barcelona 3-3)

Locul 4 – Michel Essien – Chelsea Londra – 2009 (Semifinala, Chelsea – Barcelona 1-1)

Locul 5 – Steven Gerrard – FC Liverpool – 2004 (Liverpool – Olympiacos 3-1)

Locul 6 – Emmanuel Adebayor – Arsenal Londra – 2009 (Arsenal – Villarreal 3-0)

Locul 7 – Claudio Lopez – FC Valencia – 1999 (PSV – Valencia 1-1)

Locul 8 – Samuel Eto’o – FC Barcelona – 2006 (Barcelona – Panathinaikos 5-0)

Locul 9 – Didier Drogba – Chelsea Londra – 2006 (Chelsea – Barcelona 1-0)

Locul 10 – Ronaldinho – FC Barcelona – 2005 (Chelsea – Barcelona 4-2)

Há algum tempo, a Adidas começou uma nova campanha para divulgar sua nova linha de materiais para futebol. Como todo bom comercial de marca esportiva, a campanha conta com alguns dos maiores nomes do esporte da atualidade. Em “The Ultimate Search” os escolhidos foram Kaka, Adebayor e Gerrard, além do craque aposentado Zinedine Zidane. Cada atleta ganhou sua própria revista em quadrinhos, ilustrada por artistas como J.G. Jones, Ryan Benjamin e Jae Lee. Para os torcedores do time da cidade dos Beatles ainda existe o animatic da história com o camisa 8 dos Reds. You’ll Never Walk Alone.

There were a measly 33 goals last week (down from 37 the week before) and even a couple of clean sheets! Might the entertainment be winding down?! No, of course not but I do think slowly but surely we’ll start averaging under three goals a game. While there were a few 2-2 draws, it was Arsenal’s 6-2 demolition that really bumped up the average.

I somewhat regretted bringing in Torres for Van Persie given their respective weeks (2 pts/7pts and a price rise) but while the Spaniard has a somewhat tricky run I think long term he will score more points. This week I am getting rid of one of my big two midfielders. Will it be Lampard? Will it be Gerrard? You’ll just have to wait till Saturday to find out, even though I actually made the change last Monday!

.

Gameweek 8 Top Gun (aka Tom Cruise Approves):

Maverick approves of not having to produce a new image for Fabregas.

Yes, I was lucky enough to watch Cesc Fabregas‘ destruction of Blackburn in person but not lucky enough to have him in my team when he once again scores 22 points for most and 44 for those sensible enough to have him as captain. Let me assure you that it will be third time lucky and I will snag that next high score. I hope!

He took a different route to 22 this time via four assists, a goal and three bonus and thus wins the Top Gun award for the second time this season. I told you to get him for last week. I just wish I had taken my own advice. For what it’s worth Zayatte and Dunne were next with 12 and 11, the former achieving that rare feat of being a defender who gets taken off while keeping a clean sheet.

On to the tips…

.

Three Captain Choices:

1. Fabregas or perhaps Arshavin/Arsenal – A case of after the Lord Mayor’s show? Perhaps, but that’s not to say Cesc still can’t get a good score this week. Birmingham are the visitors to the Emirates tomorrow and with their defence being pretty solid I think this may be a game where you pick a midfielder as captain rather than a striker.

Fabregas will be rested after missing the second of Spain’s internationals for personal reasons and you have to fancy him to dictate things against Birmingham’s somewhat workmanlike midfield. Arshavin is a good alternative option as his dribbling skills might be the key to opening things up. His direct opponent is Steve Carr after all.

2. Berbatov/Man Utd – With Rooney possibly a doubt due to his calf strain, the onus falls on the Bulgarian to continue his good recent form of two in two and produce a match-winning performance against Bolton. Gary Megson’s side had a good result against Spurs last week but they’ll be no match for Utd at Old Trafford. Berba scored against Bolton last season and if his reputation as something of a small game player is anything to go by he should be a good shout in this match.

3. Dunn/Blackburn – A gamble but if you consider that he has three goals in four games and faces a Burnley side terrible away from home, it’s suddenly not that far fetched that he could have a good weekend.

Gets a Captain's tick

.

Three Potential Transfers In:

1. Baines or Saha/Everton – I don’t really buy Heitinga despite his two straight assists. He’s an accident waiting to happen and I would avoid him. Baines on the other hand is very much to his Wigan form of a few seasons ago and has been for a while now. He has much of the set piece duty while Arteta is still out and with games against Wolves and Bolton coming up, has a good chance of clean sheets. Similarly, Louis Saha should relish facing those teams and will look to add to his five goals. He’s a good alternative at £7.2m if Bent is now out your price range.

2. Adebayor or Bellamy/Man City – Many of you will already have Adebayor in your team so this may not apply but he could be someone to bring in if you’re concerned over Rooney’s form or Torres’ run of games. Man City’s next four games are Wigan (A), Fulham (H), Birmingham (A) and Burnley (H) and while a couple of those sides are tough to break down, I’d imagine Adebayor will be the striker to get the goal in a 1-0 win. His price has gone back down to £10m too. Bellamy too has been on fire recently and fully deserves a starting spot. Between them they should be scoring the bulk of Man City’s goals in their upcoming fixtures.

3. Geovanni/Hull – About the only player worth having from Hull (though I suppose Zayatte merits a mention) and about the only player in form for Hull. He has two goals in two games and home matches against Portsmouth and Stoke coming up in the next few weeks.

Might be worth a pick.

.

Three To Avoid:

1. Wolves players – Whilst the likes of Ebanks-Blake and Kightly have been making their comebacks for Wolves, their upcoming fixtures are horrendous. Everton (A), Villa (H), Stoke (A), Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A) is not a run where you can easily identify point scoring opportunities. I’m sure they’ll score a goal or two along the way but good luck trying to predict the scorer.

2. Upson/West Ham – Judging by the 10,000 people who have got rid of him this week, it seems he is in quite a few teams. West Ham have been a shadow of the side that did so well last season and have let in eight goals in three games. This is strange considering the 4-5-1 Zola employs but with games against Stoke away and Arsenal at home unlikely to bring clean sheets for now Upson is too highly priced at £5.7m to warrant inclusion.

3. Kranjcar/Tottenham – According to Physioroom Modric is back next week apparently.

Are you taking the mick?

.

T.

Bellamy, scatenato

Mark Hughes ha rivelato che dopo sette partite giocate la sua squadra è andata ben oltre i risultati prefissati in questa stagione di grandi cambiamenti.

Il pareggio del Villa Park ha riportato i Blues al quarto posto della classifica di Premier League e il loro manager si gode le qualità che stanno tirando fuori dal cilindro.

Il City, per la prima volta in questa stagione, si era ritrovato sotto di un gol all’intervallo per via di un imperioso colpo di testa di un ex, Richard Dunne, ma Craig Bellamy ha conquistato un punto per i suoi mettendo a segno la sua quarta rete dell’anno, con il manager che adesso può godersi a cuor leggero la sosta dovuta agli impegni delle Nazionali.

“Una volta pareggiato, ero convinto che saremmo riusciti a vincere, ma alla fine abbiamo comunque preso un buon punto contro una buona squadra,” ha commentato.

“Siamo contenti di quel che abbiamo ottenuto fino a questo punto della stagione. Miravamo a fare un certo numero di punti e siamo andati oltre. Adesso dobbiamo incrociare le dita e fare ogni genere di scongiuro perché tutti tornino integri dagli impegni con le Nazionali.”

“Nel complesso dobbiamo essere contenti del punto fatto perché questo non è un campo facile. Abbiamo resistito nel momento in cui rischiavamo di crollare e abbiamo reagito bene. Abbiamo mostrato buone qualità anche se ci è scocciato prendere gol su un calcio piazzato. Credo che fosse scritto che a segnare sarebbe stato Dunney!”

“Avevamo bisogno di essere più dinamici nella ripresa, di aumentare l’intensità per creare spazi, e ci siamo riusciti.”

Hughes ha detto anche che il pareggio è costato caro, dato che Nigel de Jong, Roque Santa Cruz, Pablo Zabaleta e Kolo Toure si sono tutti fatti male.

“Nigel si è fatto male a una caviglia non appena iniziato il secondo tempo. Durante l’intervallo ha stretto i denti ed era intenzionato ad andare avanti,” ha confermato il manager. “Per fortuna Stevie Ireland è potuto entrare ed è riuscito a dimostrare immediatamente tutto il suo valore.”

“Manu (Adebayor, NdT) non era al massimo essendo al suo rientro e come lui qualcun altro. Roque si è preso un dito nell’occhio da Craig Bellamy praticamente subito e stava soffrendo. Era in campo, lottando tutto il tempo, potendo usare un occhio solo. Carlos Tevez sta recuperando velocità. Poi, ci sono altri infortunati. Kolo dovrà fare una radiografia al tallone, dove ha preso davvero una brutta botta, e Pablo si è, crediamo, stirato un muscolo della coscia nei minuti finali della partita e potrebbe dover stare fermo per un paio di settimane.”

da un servizio di Cris Bailey per il sito ufficiale del Manchester City

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2009/October/Hughes-admits-Blues-have-surpassed-expectations

Everyones has seen it, heard about it, or read about it somewhere. Yes he got a fine and a suspension but is it enough? Or is it too much?

Looking at it one way, what “Manu” did was wrong because he deliberately ran the whole pitch just to get in Arsenal’s face, the same Arsenal who made him the striker he is today, the same Arsenal that made him step up to the plate because he was the new Thierry Henry to be, or so everyone thought.In essence, all Adebayor did was slide in front of a few fans, but in reality what he did was basically say, ” yea you lot put me out there in 3 years, so here; F*** all of you.

On the other hand, football is an emotional game. Would it be right if we could control how a certain player feels, or acts? Firstly, it would cripple the game because quite simply, no emotion equals no fans,no effort, no desire to be the best. It would spell the end and as it has been said, if you take the emotion out, there is nothing left. SO while arrogant and provocative, Adebayor did what his head and heart were telling him. Let it be known that his own fans last year booed him. Would that not lie in the back of your mind pre match, when warming up?

Le togolais Emmanuel Adebayor a vu sa sanction s’alourdir. Il avait eu cette sanction le Cela s’était passé le 12 Septembre dernier lors du match Manchester City-Arsenal. Au milieu de la seconde mi-temps, le togolais marque le troisième but de son équipe de Manchester City. Alors qu’il vient tout juste de le marquer ce troisième but, il court a couru tout au long du le terrain pour arriver de l’autre côté du stade et narguer les supporters d’Arsenal ! Et quelques minutes plus tard, il produira un geste impardonnable en mettant son pied sur le visage du néerlandais Robin Van Persie, le joueur d’Arsenal qui venait de faire un tacle et qui était donc à terre.

Il faut rappeler que le club d’Arsenal est était son ancien club et qu’il vient venait de le quitter seulement à l’inter-saison dernier, pendant la trêve de cet été. Alors qu’il vient de marquer ce troisième but, il a couru tout le terrain pour arriver de l’autre côté du stade et narguer les supporters d’Arsenal ! Et quelques minutes plus tard, il produira un geste impardonnable en mettant son pied sur le visage du néerlandais Robin Van Persie, le joueur d’Arsenal qui venait de faire un tacle et qui était donc à terre. Tout cela a marqué les anglais et les tabloïdes anglais qui ont développés leurs titres par rapport à fait de leur gros titre, ces faits de match.

Il avait déjà écopé, il y a quelques semaines de trois matches de suspension, en raison de “cette semelle sur le néerlandais“. Mais cette fois-ci, le togolais s’est vu infligé une forte amende de 25000 livres (soit 27500 euros), ainsi que deux matches de suspension supplémentaires à cause de la provocation envers les supporters d’Arsenal par la Fédération anglaise.

Une très lourde sanction pour Emmanuel Adebayor que Manchester City aurait bien voulu éviter.

Sources : www.eurosport.fr datant du 02/10/09  et www.equipe.fr datant du même jour.

Correcteur: Gido0907

Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor is fined 25,000 and given a suspended two-match ban following his goal celebration against Arsenal…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: city population. The blog is also related to: quebec city.

Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor is fined 25,000 and given a suspended two-match ban following his goal celebration against Arsenal…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: soccer result. For a different topic see in sentence. The blog is also related to: europe soccer.

At Adebayor kun fikk betinget avstengingsstraff og en liten fillebot er tragisk mildt. Kanskje Huges hadde rett i at Nevilles hyllest gjorde saken formildende? Adebayor fortjener minst tre kampers direkte avstenging, i tillegg til de tre han fikk for stemplingen av RvP.

Kjøpelaget City har tatt over for Chelsea som det nye hat-laget, og med Adebayor på laget vil det være tragisk om de vinner noe som helst i årets sesong.

På søndag venter Blackburn. Tre nye Gunners-poeng vil bli innkassert.

Media:
VG DB

Finn noen å varme deg med i høstmørket.

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is hopeful the club can successfully contest the improper conduct charge against Emmanuel Adebayor…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: cities of. For a different topic see Compare Charlotte NorthCarolina to Los Angeles California. The blog is also related to: mackinaw city.

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is hopeful the club can successfully contest the improper conduct charge against Emmanuel Adebayor…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: championship soccer. For a different topic see sentence example. The blog is also related to: italian soccer.

Se Kakà segnerà al Milan metterà il broncio. E io rimpiango i tempi in cui il gol dell’ex era un vanto, quasi valeva doppio. In un paradossale confronto dico: meglio lo sguaiato Adebayor (che va condannato sul piano sportivo) dei finti chierichetti.

Ma del resto Kakà (nella foto in procinto di buttare la maglia del Milan dalla finestra) ci ha abituato a questa ipocrisia. Come quando disse di aver fatto il bene del Milan. Ignorando forse che il bene del Milan era che lui se ne andasse a gennaio al Manchester City facendo incassare ai rossoneri (milione più milione meno) il doppio…

Recentemente o mercado europeu esteve agitado como há muito não se via. Inspirado pelos gastos de Real Madrid e Manchester City, outros grandes times também fizeram importantes contratações.

Agora chegou a hora de mostrar quem acertou e quem errou nesse processo. É claro que ainda não dá para ter um veredicto final, mas alguns inícios foram mais promissores do que outros.

Veja quais foram as 11 melhores  grandes contratações da Europa até aqui:

1º) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
O jogador mais caro do mundo está mostrando que também tem o melhor custo benefício do mundo. Já é o artilheiro do Campeonato Espanhol com 4 gols, feitos de cabeça, de fora da área, do jeito que for. E não deve abandonar esse posto tão cedo.

2º) Diego (Juventus)
Fez um jogo espetacular contra a Roma e empolgou qualquer um. A lesão no tendão da perna atrapalhou, mas ele deve voltar ao time em breve.

3º) Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City)
Fez uma grande exibição contra o Arsenal, seu ex-time. Recebeu uma punição dura, mas já marcou 4 gols e deve voltar em alta.

Momento impagável: Adebayor comemora gol contra o Arsenal diante da torcida que já o apoiou no passado recente. Provocação de louco!

4º) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)
Começou a temporada lesionado e já voltou a se machucar. Ou seja, vai demorar para se adaptar totalmente ao time, mas mesmo assim já fez 4 gols só pelo Campeonato Espanhol.

5º) Diego Milito (Inter de Milão)
Custou 25 milhões de euros e muita gente achou que ele não valeria tanto. Mas já é o vice-artilheiro do Campeonato Italiano e decidiu sozinho o jogo contra o Cagliari no último final de semana. 

6º) Kaká (Real Madrid)
Parece perdido no posicionamento do time, especialmente quando tem que jogar pelas pontas. Mas já mostrou que será essencial no setor de criação.

7º) Robben (Bayern Munique)
A ressalva sobre suas frequentes contusões devem ser feitas sempre, mas o holandês pode formar uma excelente dupla com Ribery no setor ofensivo.

8º) Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale)
Apenas 2 gols marcados até agora podem preocupar, mas o camaronês não tem jogado mal e ainda deve evoluir com o tempo, assim que Mourinho acertar melhor o seu meio-campo também.

9º) Michael Owen (Manchester United)
Ainda é considerado um reserva do time, mas fez o gol decisivo da vitória contra o Manchester City e pode ser usado no lugar de Berbatov tranquilamente.

10º) Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Enfrenta uma concorrência pesada, passou por uma lesão há pouco tempo e não foi sempre titular até agora. Mas, quando entrou, jogou bem. Só falta o gol.

11º) Mario Gomez (Bayern)
Foi o sexto jogador mais caro do mercado, tem três gols marcados pelo Campeonato Alemão e já tem feito mais do que Klose ou Luca Toni.

Outros reforços menos badalados também começaram bem, como Lisandro López (Lyon), Felipe Melo (Juventus)  e Glen Johnson (Liverpool).

Ainda existem alguns casos em que é preciso ter paciência para avaliar. Benzema (Real Madrid), por exemplo, não empolgou, mas não foi mal. Zhirkov (Chelsea) e Aquilani (Liverpool) mal estrearam por enquanto.

Então não tem jeito, será necessário ter calma pra avaliar tantas negociações. Mas não dá pra ignorar que alguns já largaram muito na frente. Os outros vão comer poeira desse jeito…