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.

Jadwal liga Inggris untuk pertandingan tanggal 28 dan 29 november 2009. Ini dia jadwalnya.

28 november

jam 22:00 wib

BLACKBURN R. vs STOKE CITY

FULHAM vs BOLTON WANDERERN

MANCHESTER CITY vs HULL CITY

PORTSMOUNT vs MANCHESTER UTD

WEST HAM UNITED
vs BURNLEY

WIGAN ATHLETIC vs SUNDERLAND

29 november

jam 00:30 wib

ASTON VILLA vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPURT

jam 19:00 wib

WOLVERHAMPTON vs BIRMINGHAM CITY

jam 20:30 wib

ARSENAL vs CHELSEA

big match THE GUNNER vs THE BLUES ! Mana yang kamu unggulkan?

Ibland blir man förvånad över hur vinklade artiklar man kan läsa på internet. På hemsidan fotbollsverige.se där man rapporterar från Manchester – Besiktas skriver man som rubrik till matchartikeln följande: “Historisk seger för Erkan Zengin”

Ärligt talat, på vilket sätt var Erkan Zengin inblandad i segern? Han fick sitta på bänken då laget har många ordinarie spelare skadade, så det finns inte någon som helst anledning att vinkla artikeln så pass kraftigt. Låter ju som att Erkan stod för en super insats men faktum är att den föredetta Hammarbyaren är dökött i Besiktas och han kommer aldrig att passa in i klubben, då han är för dålig.

Gällande värvningen av Erkan så undrar jag om han hade någon släkting inom BJK eller något, för bra är han inte.

Så Murat som skrivit artikeln, IG  för artikeln som i stort bara handlar om hur Erkan sitter på bänken och ser på en match som hans lagkamrater spelar.

Läs den dåligt rubricerade artikeln här…

Inilah klasemen liga Champions per group setelah masing-masing klub melaksanakan 5 kali pertandingan.

GROUP A

1. Bordeaux (13)

2. Juventus (8)

3. Bayern Munchen (7)

4. Maccabi Haifa (0)

GROUP B

1. Man utd (10)

2. Wolfburg (7)

3. CSKA Moscow (7)

4. Besiktas (4)

GROUP C

1. Real madrid (10)

2. AC milan (8)

3. Marseille (7)

4. FC Zurich (3)

GROUP D

1. Chelsea (13)

2. FC Porto (9)

3. Alletico Madrid (3)

4. Apoel Nicosia (2)

GROUP E

1. Fiorentina (12)

2. Lyon (10)

3. Liverpool (7)

4. Debrecen (0)

GROUP F

1. Barcelona (8)

2. Inter Milan (6)

3. Rubin Kazan (6)

4. Dinamo Kyiv (5)

GROUP G

1. Sevilla (10)

2. Unirea Urziceni (8)

3. Vfb Stuttgart (6)

4. Rangers (2)

GROUP H

1. Arsenal (13)

2. Olympiacos (7)

3. Standard Liege (4)

4. Az Alkmaar (3)

Alex Ferguson fielded an inexperienced team for last nights championship league match, with qualification all ready assured this was something of a non game. The only thing too look forward too was an opportunity to cast an eye on Manchester united’s future stars, in particular from an Irish perspective Darren Gibson and his development.

Manchester United youngsters started with an attacking intent, in fact they should of scored as early as the second minute, Park claimed possession in the middle of his pitch and spotted the run of Obertan out on the right, he put him through with a superb through ball, Obertan tried too cross for an oncoming Macheda but Macheda missed, surely Obertan should of taken the ball on himself and had a pop.

Fergusons young guns kept on the pressure, after six minutes Park had a go from twenty five yards out a shot which the keeper spilled an oncoming Macheda though he was in but was waved offside and the replay was conclusive and that the linesman got it right.

In the eleventh minute vidic misdirected a free header from seven yards out, obertan crossed from a corner but it seemed Vidics mind was elsewhere, and if the rumours coming from the Manchester press are too be believed then his mind was most definetly elsewhere as Manchester is riff with stories that Vidic wants off in summer too sunny Spain.

Despite United’s pressure it was Besiktas who made the break through, in the eighteenth minute, A cross field ball from the Turks finds Rodrigo Tello just outside the United area to the right and he curls in a left-foot shot that takes a crucial deflection off Rafael and leaves Ben Foster diving in vain as the ball sneaks in at the far post.

However Obertan had a chance too equalise for the host in the twenty-ninth minute, Danny Welbeck put him through one and one with the keeper his low shot never really bothered Recber in the Besiktas goal. From their it stayed nip and tuck till the half way point.

In truth the second half was something as a let down, the only spark came from an Obertan attacking run in the 60 minute, after getting possession close to the half way line, he duly went on a mazey run, beat four players and shot but recber was equal to it.

Ferguson tried to inject some urgency into a flagging untied by introducing Carrick, Evra, and Michael Owen, it took until the 90 minute till this came to affect, in the ninety second minute Anderson played a  one two with owen at the edge of the box, Anderson crossed for Macheda, Recbec saved well from the header but Macheda in truth should of scored, from resulting corner Wes brown raised above everyone headed to bottom right hand corner but Recbec pulled off a world class save.

Pros for United tonight will be hard to come by, maybe Obertan is one to keep an eye on, very good at taking players on and running with ball has close control and very skilful but his final ball as it stands now is very poor indeed just like the whole of the Manchester team tonight.

Rodrigo Tello’s deflected first-half goal defeated a youthful Manchester United as Besiktas ended their 23-game unbeaten sequence at Old Trafford in the Champions League.

Sir Alex Ferguson – with qualification for the last 16 already assured – fielded an experimental line-up and gave some of Manchester United’s young brigade a chance to shine on the big European stage.

Gabriel Obertan was the most promising of the Old Trafford undercard, but the inexperience of a side also containing Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda, Rafael da Silva and Darron Gibson was exposed as they failed to turn long periods of territorial domination into an end product.

And that long run without a loss, stretching back to when AC Milan won 1-0 at Old Trafford in February 2005, was broken when Tello’s long-range strike after 20 minutes took a touch off Rafael and beat keeper Ben Foster.

Besiktas’s veteran keeper Rustu emerged as his side’s hero in injury-time, rolling back the years to produce two fabulous saves in quick succession from Macheda and Wes Brown as United went in desperate search of an equaliser.

They were United’s last opportunities and the noisy band of Besiktas supporters inside Old Trafford celebrated wildly at the final whistle.

United boss Ferguson made eight changes from the side that won easily against Everton on Saturday, and while they were lively they created little to trouble the colourful Turkish international keeper Rustu.

More here Source:BBC

London is widely known for its history and culture but the city is equally popular for its sports. The Premier League boasts of having as many as five clubs from London. And Tottenham’s crushing victory at the weekend just reinforced that the city’s footballing pedigree.

The results of the weekend meant that currently there are three London based clubs in the Top Four of the league. Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all hail from the city so famous for its half caste weather that it even inspired a poem about the same.

In Arsenal and Chelsea, London has two teams which are regular contenders for the title. Between them the two sides have won the league 16 times and are the only teams beside Manchester United to win the league in the last 15 years.

Tottenham are also no push overs and despite not having quite the level of success as the other two in recent times; they can boast of an impressive history. This means that the city has at least three highly competitive clubs which is an unprecedented  number.

History of Football & London

Many may be unaware but football and London have a long history together dating back to almost 1175. William FitzStephen describes ball games played by kids in schools in his description of London written sometime between 1174 to 1183.

Even after the game was outlawed in the Kingdom because of its previously violent nature many in the city continued playing it.One of the first forms of organised football was also held here by Richard Mulcaster, the famous English educator, with referees and rules.

The FA, the oldest footballing body, was also born in London in 18 63 and thus the city is the birthplace of modern day football clubs. Things however weren’t all that rosy as many of the original members broke away from the FA and founded the Rugby Football Union.

Of all the London teams, Fulham is the oldest having been established all the way back in 1879. Tottenham followed in 1882 before Arsenal was set up in 1886. Chelsea were born in the 20th century in 1905.

Other Great Footballing Cities

The truth is that London has only shot to prominence because of Chelsea’s Ambrahimovic takeover. Before that London was no match to the footballing mecca that is Milan.

The fashion capital of the world takes an equal amount of pride in its two great footballing teams viz. AC Milan and Inter Milan. These two sides are two of the most successful clubs on the globe.

Both have won the Italian league 17 times. AC Milan are also the European kings having won the prestigious trophy seven times second only to Real Madrid. Inter have picked up the trophy twice.

The other great city to boast of equally grand clubs is Rome – home to AS Roma and Lazio. Both the Italian capital sides have enjoyed varying degrees of success over the years but have huge reputations.

Interestingly both Milan & Inter and Roma & Lazio share their stadia. Whilst the Milan clubs ply their trade at the San Siro, the Romans play at the Stadio Olimpico, venue of last year’s Champions League final.

Manchester – A New Rival

Manchester United may be ‘Enemy#1′ for all English clubs. But with the exception of the Red Devils the city’s other team, Manchester City, have been relatively unsuccessful. In fact the famous Man Utd chant goes “There’s only one Manchester”.

However all that may be set to change in the coming few years. Thanks to the Dubai takeover of the club, City boast of a budget which is unmatched in English football. Though recent results may indicate that the club is still far from the ‘Top Four’ but if their buying pattern continues they are sure to be there sooner rather than later.

However as things stand if not the world, London is most certainly the best footballing city in the country. And with the mouth-watering Arsenal -Chelsea game coming up this weekend. Things are just getting better.

There were more surprises in the Premier League this weekend as Steve Bruce’s Balloon Boys caused their second upset of the campaign when they beat Arsenal at the Stadium of Light.

The 1-0 victory came courtesy of a Darren Bent strike in the 71st minute and once again exposed the Gunners’ lack of continuity. Their North London rivals Tottenham though set a bunch of records on their way to a 9-1, yes you read that right, 9-1 scoreline. Spurs seemed to be playing a third division side from Norway as Jermaine Defoe scored five times in a complete annihilation of Wigan. This result sees them go level on points with Arsenal in third spot with 25 points behind just on goal difference.

Meanwhile Chelsea and Manchester United continued to show why everyone insists on calling the league a two horse race with comprehensive wins over Wolves and Everton respectively. . Chelsea who started without Drogba, Ballack, Lampard and Bosingwa had little difficulty on their way to a 4-0 victory. Essien’s brace for the Blues was sandwiched in between a fabulous Malouda and a Joe Cole strike, the latter scoring for the first time in over a year in the Premier League.

Manchester United were also equally adept in their 3-0 win against Everton. Ferguson watched from the stands whilst serving his first of a two-game ban. Goals from Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Valencia helped the champions coast to victory. They will now hope that Arsenal can do them a favour and help them cut the five point gap when they take on Chelsea next Sunday.

Liverpool made it one win in ten as they failed to pick up the three points this time in their clash with Manchester City at Anfield. The Reds took the lead through Martin Skrtel who probably thought it was wrong for a Slovakian defender to score and duly lost Emanuele Adebayor and then Stephen Ireland as the Citizens took the lead. But their lead lasted for all of 57 seconds as Yossi Benayoun equalized for the Merseysiders. Rafa’s boys tried all they possibly could in the final ten minutes but were once again unable to get the decisive goal. Liverpool are now languishing in seventh place thirteen points behind Chelsea and City who have now drawn six games in a row just a point above in sixth.

In other action from around the league, Hull City played out a very entertaining 3-3 draw against West Ham. Aston Villa were held 1-1 at Burnley. Blackburn made it two wins in a row with a 2-0 victory at relegation embattled Bolton. Portsmouth further confirmed their entry into next year’s Championship with a 1-0 defeat to Stoke and Birmingham City made it four games unbeaten as they won 1-0 through a Lee Bowyer strike against Fulham.

Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher produced a superb strike as he helped his side ease to a win over Everton.

Fletcher converted United’s dominance into a goal when he got over a hip-high ball and sent a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Michael Carrick swept in the second after being picked out by Ryan Giggs.

Antonio Valencia completed Everton’s misery when his angled far post shot went in via a deflection as the champions ran out comfortable winners.

It was an improved performance from United following two defeats in three Premier League games and came after leaders Chelsea had temporarily moved eight points clear of them by hammering 4-0 Wolves.

Everton had knocked United out at the FA Cup semi-final stage last season but, without a win at Old Trafford in the league since 1992, anything but a United win seemed unlikely – and so it proved.

The visitors’ tactics played into United hands as a depleted Everton set up to frustrate the home side and invited pressure.

United rarely need any encouragement and they quickly set about trying to engineer a way through the visitors’ defence.

Wayne Rooney sliced a shot wide and a Giggs effort was saved by Tim Howard, although a probing United initially struggled to find a cutting edge to their slick build-up play.

Everton striker Louis Saha – back at Old Trafford for the first time since his summer switch to Goodison Park – provided some rare action for Edwin van der Sar when he struck a shot on the swivel which the United keeper comfortably saved.

However, it was the home side making all the running and the inevitability that they would eventually score became a reality in spectacular style.

More here. Source:BBC

EMPLOYERS have been warned against using social networking sites to vet job candidates. Jersey’s data protection commissioner, Emma Martins, said that relying on the internet was a ‘scandalous’ and unreliable way to recruit employees. She added that businesses should have higher standards when it came to hiring staff. ‘The internet is a pot of unregulated space,’ she said. ‘It can be a source of useful information but is equally a source of inaccurate information. To base any decision that affects someone’s life on information from the internet is, I would go so far as to say, scandalous. Employment can affect the direction of someone’s life and their ability to do a job should not be based on random information. ‘If you are a professional organisation, you should have high standards when you source information on potential employees. When you search online for someone you could be using inaccurate data. In which other areas of your business would you rely on inaccurate data?’  This is Jersey-20th Nov 2009

If Facebook was a country it would be the fourth most populous on the planet. What makes us want to share our lives with others in a way that might prejudice our employment prospects? It seems that individuals have voted with their fingers on that one! The right to proclaim our identity through photos, contact lists, blogs and comments has been asserted across the Western world and beyond.

Emma Martens’ comments were made to a newspaper in Jersey but were read by me in Windsor and read by you where you are. I have put some context to her remarks by leaving the rest of the article. There is a wider context that those living and working in Jersey will be aware of but cannot be explained here.

Emma was able to comment in a controlled environment but the comments have become, through on-line publication, a catalyst for this post. Many people’s on-line profile is controlled by forces of which they have no control- think of the chap brushing his teeth at the Chelsea v Man U game- television translating to You-tube will shape the way many people think of the fellow for months and years to come- that the camera panned to him brushing his teeth while watching the game may be the most significant moment of his on-line life!

In fifty years time, Generation Y’s on-line profiles will be replete with such on-line incidents, indelible to their on-line and off line reputations.

We will not be able to stop this process with data protection rules. The force of the web tsunami will wash them away. Emma’s advice leads me to the old proverb”judge not that ye be not judged!”. “Relying” on on-line profiles is a problem that needs attention from us all, not just those in Government.

I never really thought I would start my own blog about all the games I play, watch and follow. But there are so many, and I have so much to say about each of them, that this made sense.

As far as I can remember, Cricket, Tennis and Chess were the first three sports that I ever got interested in. Cricket, because it is a religion in India. Tennis, because my parents enrolled me into a tennis program. Chess, because it was a favorite pass-time for me and my dad. Star Sports and ESPN were the most watched channels in those days too. I was so curious about how to play certain games, that I just sat and watched. I watched and learned. I learned and got motivated. I ended up participating in many school events in Table Tennis, Throwball, Basketball etc. Thanks to television, I knew the rules to golf too.

Around the first year of junior college, soccer got added to my arsenal. And boy, did it stick! It not only overtook cricket, but it also made me want to become a soccer manager/coach in the future. Manchester United was the reason my days were brighter, or absolutely pathetic (if they lost).

Around 2007, I got interested in poker, Texas Hold Em mostly. Since then I’ve been reading and learning a lot about the game and today, I can say confidently that I am a decent player. While all the other sports and games have prevailed, new ones just keep getting added. Not to mention board games (like Monopoly, Scotland Yard) and party games (like Mafia).

I want to pen my thoughts, opinions down. I want to share my passion.

Well, i read today from The Sun that Tottenham is planning for a 6mil swoop for Ben Foster this January. And Foster responded that he might need to leave to keep his place  in the England squad. He further commented that he felt weird being a country’s top keeper and yet being only the 3rd choice keeper for his own club.

Hmmm, to Foster, you had your chances! And what a bummer and mess you have made of your chances. When Edwin VDS was injured, you were assured of starting  in games and yet you allowed your butter fingers to do the talking and so who else you can blame except yourself for falling down the pecking order at OT? I find it weird as well that after a series of blunders you have made, Fabio Capello still prefer to start you rather than other keepers available out there.

Anyway, it doesn’t really bother me if you choose to leave or choose to stay, but one thing that i want to make it clear as a United fan is that no one is to be blame other than yourself for not making the full use of the chance you get earlier. I personally witness your blunders at United games and i would have drop you from the bench myself had Ferguson not done so. Go to Tottenham by all means if that will help you but I hope that you don’t turn into a crying baby and whining that you were never given the opportunities… yes, not opportunity, but opportunities!

Full report here: Tottenham want to sign England keeper Ben Foster

Spotted at grimedaily.com

Quite  a funny topic this week, following the revelation that Newcastle United have sold the naming rights to St. James’ Park and for the rest of the season will be playing at the sportsdirect.com@St. James’ Park stadium. Catchy isn’t it?!

I don’t especially have a problem with naming rights (how could I as an Arsenal supporter) but I think you should go either the whole way or not at all. Either call it the sportsdirect.com stadium or stick with St James’ Park. Don’t try and force it all into one joint effort. Can you imagine the Emirates@Ashburton Grove or Aon Insurance@Old Trafford. Doesn’t work does it. Typical Newcastle though, always doing things cack-handedly.

Anyway, in terms of this week’s entry, my lack of internet meant I had to do it in Paint and Word at work. I got the opportunity to redo it below but you can see the original rubbish version on the Guardian site, not that this one is that much better. Jack is Jackie Milburn, 2nd highest Newcastle goalscorer btw.

Put sportsdirect.com@St James' Park into an anagrammer and you get this. I would think that a very dyslexic signwriter might come up with something similar.

This week’s gallery can be found here.

T.

Archive.

1. Berita 1

Evra bicara bigmatch Chelsea vs Man. Utd

November 5, 2009 by bola

Lima tahun terakhir, Manchester United dan Chelsea adalah dua penguasa Liga Inggris. Berstatus juara bertahan, “Setan Merah” merasa The Blues adalah ujian terbesar melanjutan dominasi.

Dalam hal trofi yang sudah dikumpulkan, Liverpool memang menjadi seteru terberat MU. Tapi karena Chelsea dalam beberapa musim terakhir menjadi pesaing utama, The Blues jadi ancaman nyata saat kembali berhadapan akhir pekan ini.

Meski baru di awal musim, sukses The Blues memuncaki klasemen sementara jelas jadi ancaman besar buat MU yang punya ambisi meraih gelar juaranya yang keempat secara beruntun. Apalagi pasukan Carlo Ancelotti tampil mengerikan dengan produktivitasnya yang sangat tinggi.

“Setiap tahun, saya berpikir kalau Chelsea akan menjadi rival utama kami. Saya tak takut dengan mereka, tapi saya menghormati mereka sebagai lawan yang paling bahaya dalam upaya meraih titel, jadi kami butuh menjadi kuat,” ungkap Patrice Evra di Telegraph.

Pada dua pertemuan kedua kesebelasan di Liga Inggris musim lalu, MU berhasil menang 3-0 di kandang dan sukses mencuri satu poin saat gantian melawat ke Bridge. Ditambah fakta bahwa MU tak pernah kalah atas Chelsea jika dirinya dimainkan sejak menit pertama, bek kiri asal Prancis itu yakin benar kalau hasil positif bisa dibawa dari lawatan ke London.

“Ini akan menjadi pertandingan yang sempurna buat kami. Mereka berada di puncak klasemen, saat Anda bertanding menghadapi mereka, rasanya akan menyenangkan jika bisa menang.”

“Saya punya kenangan indah dari final Liga Champions di Moskow, dan saat Anda menang atas Chelsea, Anda akan bangga pada diri Anda senidiri,” pungkas dia.

Sumber : http://sepakbola.com/

Hoppala bu Poppy de ne dediğinizi duyar gibiyim. Poppy İngilizlerin I. Dünya savaşında hayatını kaybeden askerleri anmak, hatırlamak maksadıyla tertipledikleri gün. Kasım ayının ikinci pazarı asıl gün olsa da Ekim sonundan Kasım ortasına kadar yaygarası yapılıyor. Gelincik görünümlü rozetler, törenler, bağışlar suretiyle ülkeleri için ölen askerlere gösterilen saygı biçimi.

Televizyon’daki spikerden sokaktaki vatandaşa, Lordlar Kamarası‘ndaki vekillerden sanatçılara kadar herkesin göğsünde görebilirsiniz Poppyleri. Daily Mail gazetesinin büyük mücadelesinden sonra da sıra futbola geldi. Tüm Premier Lig takımlarını bu hususta zorlayan gazete, her gün Poppy update yaparak rozeti formalarına takmayan takımları deşifre etti. Son olarak geçen haftasonu rozeti takmayı kabul etmeyen Man Utd, Liverpool ve Bolton‘u ağır bir dille eleştirip İngiliz halkının kucağına attılar. Kırmızı formalarının üzerinde kırmızı rozetin estetik durmayacağını açıklayan Utd ve Liverpool kulüplerine tam sayfa, Poppy takılmış kırmızı Arsenal formasıyla cevap verip, “Bak L’pool&Utd! kırmızı üzerinde nasıl da güzel duruyor” diye tepki koymaları beni hayrete düşürdü. Bolton kulübünün sessiz kalması ve popüleritesinin diğer ikili kadar olmaması Daily Mail‘in nefretinden yırtmalarını sağladı. Şuan Ada’da tüm nefret Utd ve Liverpool üzerinde diyebilirim. İki takımın da haftasonu puan kaybetmesi Daily Mail ekibini sevince boğmuştur.

Konudaki tartışmalar tek taraflı değil elbet. Bana pes dedirten bu infaza Daily Mail‘i faşist olmakla suçlayan büyük bir kesim de tepki koyuyor. Şu Kasım ayı biran evvel bitse de tartışmalar da sona erse…

I know I am late with this.

John Terry grabbed the only goal of the game to extend Chelsea’s Premier League lead to five points and deal a big blow to Manchester United’s title chances.

The Blues skipper met Frank Lampard’s free-kick late on to earn his side a 10th straight home win.

But a makeshift United side will feel aggrieved after a fine display, with Darren Fletcher in impressive form.

Wayne Rooney twice went close from range, but a lack of cutting edge cost the reigning champions dear in the end.

And with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side now five points behind their London rivals, United must hope Chelsea’s current form falls away if they are to win a fourth successive title.

They can at least be comforted by a brave performance, though, especially considering the absence of centre-half pairing Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, as well as striker Dimitar Berbatov.

That meant Jonny Evans and Wes Brown were again paired in defence – and up against the in-form frontline of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, many expected them to have their work cut out at the Bridge.

The pair held up well, though, aided enormously by the return to league action of Fletcher following a recent ankle problem. The Scot, so often a pivotal player for them in the big games in the past, typified the visitors’ relentless and disciplined approach.

More Here. Source:BBC

You may ask yourself, does this blog have BIG FOUR bias? Is it wrong to wait until Tuesday to do the round-up just because it was Liverpool playing on Monday night? To be honest, I thought I’d wait because there was obviously going to be a talking point from last night’s game at Anfield, and it seems I was proved right!

Just as Ngog was starting to repair his reputation, by actually scoring a couple of goals, he goes and does a thing like that. I haven’t actually seen the game yet, but from what I see and hear, it was an unashamed bit of cheating. After the Eduardo precedent, it will be interesting to see whether the FA take any action on this now. However, I think that the ridiculous ‘referee took action at the time’ rule will come into play again. I know the FA don’t want to undermine the referee – but they bloody should be undermined if they make a mistake! We all get hung out to dry at our jobs if we do something wrong, so why shouldn’t they? Instead, they’ll settle for not giving an account of themselves during their time as referees, and then sell their ‘expertise’ to whichever newspaper comes calling first when they retire.

I’ll just mention the main points to come out over the weekend – I’m not going to bother to do a game-by-game review this time round, as by Tuesday you’ve probably heard it/read it a hundred times over by now anyway.

So, I’ll start with Phil Brown’s redemption at the KC on Sunday. Post-match, I received a personal request to include a story on how Phil Brown is the best manager in the Premier League.

But he isn’t. So I won’t.

All I will say, is that if he is half as good as he thinks he is, then they should beat Stoke at home anyway. But he’s not.

This may buy him more time in charge at Hull, but I still think his days are numbered. The only good thing he has going for him is that he is a ‘character’. I think when people say this, what they actually mean is ‘dickhead’.

If you haven’t already, check out J’s blog below about Man City. I said on Friday that if they didn’t stick a few past Burnley, then I would worry about the pretenders to the 4th spot. Turns out, I was lying. I was pleased to see them look hopelessly inadequate against a generally well organised Burnley. This was a mess of a game, and it proves that Man City just aren’t a proper team yet. I honestly think that Spurs or Villa have a better chance of finishing in the top 4 than the Egos of Eastlands. I also happen to agree with Alan Hansen’s chastising of Wayne Bridge- he has picked up hardly any points for me on my fantasy football. He seems to be slowly but surely making sure he has a nice holiday this summer: somewhere other than South Africa.

I find the referee debate surrounding the game at Stamford Bridge slightly tedious, so I won’t bother going over it all. This proved everything I said previously about “when Chelsea play badly they lose,” completely wrong! Man Utd were the better team, and they were right to be aggrieved about the goal. But you know what? Tough. They’ve had enough of their fair share of luck over the years, and do they really expect any sympathy from the rest of us? Everyone gets bad decisions – Gomes probably should have been sent off for Spurs against Sunderland – but you have to live with it. Shouldn’t Ferguson realise that his rants are futile by now? He knows it’ll come back around, it always does. It’s footballing karma.

Arsenal again looked worryingly good at Molineux. It’s too early to make predictions about this Arsenal team. A Fabregas injury/suspension would most probably coincide with a dip in form, and there are still some weak links. Right now, they’re probably the 2nd best team in the league, but I don’t think that’s where they’ll end up at the end of the season.

By the way, the bloke from Football365 who took on Lawro at his own game lost 6-2. I told you – don’t mess with him. He’ll take you down.

As a sidenote, I went to An Evening with Jimmy Greaves last night. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it turns out Jimmy basically does a stand-up routine loosely tied in with his life and footballing career. He was hilarious – genuinely witty, modest and interesting. It’s just a pity that the crowd were largely typical of the venue (the Huntingdon Hall at Worcester) – middle-class know-it-alls. I think if more football fans had known about it, they would have really enjoyed the show.

So anyway, we now welcome (?) the International break amid the news that Beckham cannot now beat Shilton’s cap record, as there aren’t enough games in between now and the end of the World Cup. I can’t believe these doubters – are they actually assuming Becks is going to retire? I can’t see any reason why he can’t captain (yes, captain) us to victory in 2012 before taking over from Capello and becoming a player/manager in Brazil in 2014. Do you?

Liverpool supporters are probably sick to death of the Liverpool bashing in the media over the last few weeks, but the fact is they are giving the press so much material, and can expect little else. Their form has been terrible, and apart from one match, against United, they have looked more like relegation candidates then league challengers. What that suggests is that they seem to get their spirit up for the derby and are unable to do the same for all other games, domestic or in Europe. That’s a sad indication of the control Rafa has over his misfiring team.

Last night they were lucky to get away with a point against Birmingham. That they did escape with a draw, and not their 6^th league defeat of the season, owed everything to do with the bane of football – diving. When Americans think of soccer, they don’t think of the game we all know and love, they think of men falling and writhing around with exaggerated pain. They call it a sissy’s game, forgetting for convenience that their “football” is played with more pads and protection that an over cautious, paranoid, parents baby proofing house. However the fact is that diving, and theatrics, have become an embarrassment and shame of the sport, and not a way to showcase the game.

Diving is more prevalent in Spain and Italy than it is in England, but that isn’t saying much. It hasn’t so much as creeped into English football but rather immersed itself in what many see as the strongest league in the world. Make no mistake, these players aren’t being clever, but are cheating. They are conning the ref’s and are shamming and embarrassing their team, their club, their fans and the sport.

David Ngog’s goal last night was a brilliant and lethal finish. He hit that ball as sweet as he could ever hope. But his biggest contribution to his team would be by cheating and winning his team a penalty in the second half. He should be ashamed of himself but will probably be congratulated by his team mates for gaining them a point. Rafa even admitted afterwards that Ngog said he didn’t think it was a penalty. While Rafa did admit so much, and that is more than most managers would do, the game needs managers and team mates to come out against such behaviour and not defend it when it benefits them, and speak out when it goes against them. You can’t have it both ways.

Lets name and shame divers – even if they play for your team. The best players are as guilt as the less talented players in the league. When Christiano Ronaldo first game to England he was guilty of diving a lot. It was a trait he brought with him from Portugal, as was very evident when Porto played English teams in the Champions League. While Ronaldo curbed his diving as his career progressed, perhaps with prompting from his team mates and manager, his early years of falling to the ground hurt him later as defenders got away with kicking lumps out of him and ref’s letting his early reputation cloud their decisions. Before Ronaldo left for Spain he was denied many legitimate penalties with refs falsely accusing him of diving. The ground work was laid in his teens, much to his disadvantage. Another United player, and again a Portuguese player, Nani, is another who needs to stay on his feet more. Nani doesn’t actually dive in the sense that Ngog did, he tends to go to ground at the slightest bit of contact, rolling around, clutching himself, as if he’s been shot. If Nani stayed on his feet his United career would probably be more advanced then it is. Contact that actually takes him to ground will get him free kicks, going to ground to easily, and the theatrics that follow, will only harm his development and gain him an unwanted reputation.

Like Nani, Arsenals Robin van Persie is not actually a diver, per say. When contact is made he makes the most of it, ensuring that he gets a free kick or penalty. He’s more of an embellisher than a cheat. He gets fouled and then theatrically goes to ground, making sure the ref and everyone else knows that he has been fouled. While not as shameful as Ngog’s theatrics, it is again something that should be cut down. While not actually cheating a player of his skill and class has more to offer young fans then this.

Another player who’s skill and talent are supplemented by bouts of cheating is Chelsea’s Drogba. Drogba is perhaps one of the strongest players in the league, but like Nani he just needs a feather touch to go down as if he’s been shot. He then rolls around, complaining, limps when he gets up, and miraculously fully recovers once the defender has been given a card, and steps up to take the free kick. Drogba also doesn’t need a touch to go down. He’s happy to dive when he can. There’s no doubt that on form he is up there with the best in the world, but this part of his game is one that he can do without.

Ngog is in good company at Liverpool and is following the example of his captain Steven Gerrard. Liverpool fans have been very quick to chastise Ronaldo, Drogba, van Persie and co for diving, but because of the god worshipping they bestow on Gerrard they are blind to see that he is probably the worst offender in the league. Gerrard doesn’t even need the player to be close to him to put in an Olympic style dive. His reputation is well known outside of Liverpool and it is the reason why non Liverpool fans don’t speak highly of a player who on his day can be the best in the world. As captain of Liverpool Gerrard should be setting a better example, but his diving has become part of his game.

There should not be a place for diving in soccer. With most top flight games on TV and subject to scrutiny from all angles, diver will be caught out, as Ngog was last night. Ngog has not lived up to the hype that Benitez has placed on his young player, but he has now found a label that all other players and ref’s will be aware of – cheat. The shame and embarrassment must be cast out of the game. Divers must be called out – don’t let your love for a player cloud that.

pic from teamtalk.com

A quick one today as I’m writing this at work as I don’t yet have internet access in my new flat (posts maybe a bit sporadic for the next week or two).

1. It’s interesting to see Arsenal’s attack being lauded after 36 goals in just 11 games but it’s premature to think they’ll definitely break 100 goals. All their home games bar Spurs have been against sides in the bottom eight while it was the first time since the 6-1 against Everton on the opening day that they’d scored more than two away.

That said, they have been pretty awesome and you can only beat what’s put in front of you. The 4-3-3 formation suits Fabregas down to a tee and he already has nearly as many assists as last year as well as the small matter of nine goals in all competitions. Sunderland away is next but the real test comes in three weeks when Chelsea come to the Emirates. The best attack vs the best defence; something will have to give.

2. Surely if you’re 2-0 down in a game you’ll take a draw at the end of it. I jest slightly but Man City once again showed defensive frailty against Burnley and the current back four does not seem up to scratch if City are to be pushing for a Champions League spot. They may have only lost once but drawing all the time is not a recipe for success (just ask Liverpool last season). In the last five drawn games they could have instead won two and lost three but still been better off. Needing time to gel isn’t a good excuse.

3. It’s still only a matter of time before the Tango Man gets the chop at Hull. Jimmy Bullard was inspirational in his home debut (ten months after signing) but Stoke were doing fine until Faye got himself sent off. As luck would have it Hull have two more home games coming up against West Ham and Everton and I’d hazard a guess that if he loses both he’ll be out of a job.

Phil Brown

4. Man Utd were probably marginally the better team but Chelsea still found a way to win the game. That’s usually the mark of champions elect. A five point gap is not insurmountable at this stage of the season but if you take the big four clashes as the main opportunity to make up ground/build a lead, then Man Utd’s habit of losing them (just two wins from nine this season and last) makes life all the more difficult for themselves in terms of catching up.

5. I imagine missing a penalty wasn’t in Darren Bent’s list of ways to show Harry Redknapp the error of this ways.

6. Is the Premier League turning into a three-way race for the title and a four-way race for 4th place? Of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man City the latter have the biggest squads but the former two have more experience of being involved in such a race. Villa were very good against a terrible Bolton team and might be better placed this season when they’re having to chase a 4th spot rather than lead from the front and collapse like last year. 

T.