Arsenal’s title hopes took a blow this week as the barcodes tore up the history books to record their first league win at Arsenal for nine years. Whilst the damage of that result was lessened by results elsewhere, Arsene Wenger will have been concerned by the dropped points, particularly as his side were a little fortunate to come out with a win against a resilient Wolves side in mid-week.
The club was struck with further injury concerns for defender Thomas Vermaelen, and this combined with a suspension for defensive partner Laurent Koscielny, leaves the Gunners a little short at the back for their trip to Goodison Park on Sunday- a crucial game in their season.
On the blogs this week there is discussion of why losing captain Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona this summer could be a blessing in disguise, whether Theo Walcott is ready to take centre stage in Arsenal’s title tilt and a rundown of the potential January targets for Arsene Wenger.
As always there is also the best of Arsenal’s online library.
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Is the glass half empty of half full? – Online Gooner
JET, is he worth it? You bet he is! – Le Grove
Players on the move and the signing we all wanted…. Highbury House
Lack of discipline is good and new deal, new era? –A Cultured Left Foot
Is Harry Redknapp Arsenal- obsessed? –Online Gooner
Two late goals have cost Sunderland points in their last two games and Steve Bruce held little back in his assessment of the defensive performance against Wolves. Their defence has been much improved this season and the manager is sure to have been working on shoring things up again ahead of the visit of West Ham.
Although the Hammers are without an away win in the league this season they are coming off the back of a morale boosting win over Wigan and that surprise thumping of United. Avram Grant will also be reminding them of how they notched their only away win in all competitions in over a year at the Stadium of Light back in September. Steve Bruce may counter by telling his players that that was just the Carling Cup. That game also came right after a hard fought win over Arsenal which took a noticeable toll on his players.
This time West Ham have had midweek exertions, albeit very successful, whilst Sunderland have the luxury of over a week off between games. Despite that Carling Cup win, the Londoners have picked up just three points on the road this season and their last away trip to Anfield was an especially poor performance. Sunderland are still unbeaten at home with creditable draws against United and Arsenal, as well as that win over Man City and though Everton snatch a draw in their last home game.
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One big plus coming from the last few games has been the emergence of Danny Welbeck. Having bemoaned the over reliance on Darren Bent earlier in the season, with Gyan’s expected return from injury, the manager now has the much preferred headache of having to choose between three in-form strikers.
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Having been out injured the Ghanaian may be the one to lose out, making Bent at 4/1 and Welbeck at 9/2 the obvious choices to score first. With Wellbeck having scored in Sunderland’s last three games, the 13/10 on him to score anytime could be worth a decent bet.
West Ham have conceded fourteen goals, scoring just four on their travels and with Sunderland’s in-form strike force, which has seen them score seven in their last three, the fans could see their first big home win of the season. The 5/6 on Sunderland to win the match is a very solid bet but taking on Sunderland -1 goal at 5/2 could really pay-off. A scoreline of 3-0 at 14/1 isn’t being overly optimistic either, despite West Ham’s midweek exploit, as long as they can avoid conceding another one late on. Even if they do, few fans will complain with a 3-1 win at the same price of 14/1.
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Continuing our look into the foreign wags that put the Premier League ones to shame…
Rosaria Cannavo has had a number of Italian Serie A footballers chasing after her, and it isn’t hard to see why. From Catania, Italy, I’m sure you’ll agree that Rosaria has classic Mediterranean good looks. Rosaria has done plenty of posing on TV, where her clothes are at a premium, but a smile is always on her face!
In the past she has dated Sampdoria striker and somewhat controversial figure Antonio Cassano, who is renowned for his short temper. Maybe this is what caused Rosaria to move on to her next Serie A footballer. Cannavo has most recently been linked with former Italian international defender Christian Panucci. The 37-year-old has now retired, but he won’t be short of things to do if he still has Roasaria on his arm!
Click on Miss Cannavo below to see Rosaria in all her glory!
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Arsenal have been very busy over the last month. This home clash with Wigan comes hot on the heels of their FA Cup replay with Leeds, and only days before a crucial Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Ispwich on Tuesday.
It with this in mind that Arsene Wenger will have some big decisions to make with regards the make up of his side to face strugglers Wigan at the Emirates on Saturday.
A weakened side dropped two points when the two sides last met over Christmas, and a similar result here would be very damaging to the Gunners’ title hopes.
Wigan continue to play well in patches but have found wins incredibly hard to come by, although, remarkably, Roberto Martinez’s men could find themselves anywhere between 14th and 20th by Sunday night.
Although Arsenal have been poor at home at times this season, and the Latics are something of a bogey team for Arsene Wenger, Wigan do not have the defensive discipline or the tools to hurt the Gunners over 90 minutes away from home.
If Wenger takes a risk over team selection, there remains a chance of the points being shared, however, even with a packed schedule ahead, he would be mad to risk further criticism.
Prediction: 3-1
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Everton boss David Moyes believes Cesc Fabregas should have been sent off for abusing officials at half-time in his side’s 2-1 loss at the Emirates.
Arsenal won a spiteful encounter after second-half goals from Andrey Arshavin and Laurent Koscielny overturned Louis Saha’s opener for Everton.
Replays showed Saha scored from an offside position, which raised the ire of Arsenal captain Fabregas at the interval, but Moyes labelled the language the Spaniard used to berate the referee as ‘disgusting’.
“I thought there were some really bad tackles from Arsenal in the game and Fabregas’ comments to the official in the tunnel at half-time warranted a sending off. It was disgusting,” the Scotsman said.
“I’m not going to repeat them; but they did. If he had said it on the pitch he would be have been off immediately, so what’s the difference in the tunnel?”
Moyes admitted Saha’s goal was fortunate but was more concerned at the way his team threw away victory.
“I think it was offside, it was the wrong decision. But it wasn’t Everton who made the decision,” he said.
“As for the game, we gave it away by our defending at a set piece, we have nobody else to blame but ourselves.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, hailed his side’s spirit in the wake of the result, which kept up the pressure on league leaders Manchester United, who they trail by five points.
“It was more a victory of a team with a fantastic spirit and a never-say-die attitude than our usual way,” Wenger said.
“I’m very happy because this is the aspect of the team that has been questioned the most – but it’s where recently we have been the most convincing.”
“We played our 10th game in one month and we’ve shown that even when football wise our level dropped we showed a fantastic attitude.”
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On a separate note, Wenger added that he was bemused by the big spending of some of their rivals on the last day of the transfer window, particularly that of Chelsea, who spent 75 million pounds on Fernando Torres and David Luiz.
“Chelsea supported the financial fair play rules, they voted for it. Then in the morning they announce a 70-million-pound loss and then in the afternoon they spend 75 million pounds,” he said.
“Where is the logic in that? But it shows Roman Abramovich is back in the market. People were saying does he want to invest or not, but that has changed. He has decided to put big money in the game and that tells you in the summer more will come.”
This time last week if you had said to me that Fernando Torres had left for Chelsea for £50m and that we had replaced him with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez for £35m and £23m respectively, I would have laughed my head off. The Suarez deal looked a possibility but the other two transfers would have looked incredulous. The old cliché that a week is a long time in football certainly rings true. The last two days have been very trying certainly on the editor of this website who has extremely red eyes after spending the best part of 18 hours yesterday and the day before looking at computer or TV screens. I need to get out more really.
After the dust has settled, rather than a feeling of devastation or despair among Reds fans which would have characterised most supporters if the club had just sold Torres for £50m without bringing in the replacement, there is sense of great optimism and excitement about what the future holds. Great credit must go to FSG and Damien Comolli for getting the deals done for Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in the shortest period of time imaginable. Although the net spend for the window is approximately £1.8m (£50m received for Torres and £6m for Babel, £35m paid for Carroll and £22.8m for Suarez), it shows that the American owners are willing to use money to go and buy top players, rather than keeping the money for interest payments or anything else. It is great that the owners are also backing Kenny and Comolli in the transfer market too as £35million for Carroll is going way out on a limb, and puts reputations on the line. There is great optimism for the first time in a long time and there is a feeling that Liverpool are finally back up with the big boys competing financially in the transfer market. Kenny Dalglish mentioned in his interview about Andy Carroll today that FSG will back the club in the summer too:
“The owners have been fantastically supportive during this window. In fact they may be slightly disappointed they didn’t get someone else. Anyone who had any doubts about hunger or anybody taking this club forward, they’re gone now. In the summer we’ll be looking forward to trying to enhance what we’ve got.”
With all this great sense of anticipation for the future though, how does it all fit together? What tactics will Liverpool begin to employ with the departure of our main man Torres and the arrival of his replacements? You can disagree with me on this fundamental premise if you like, but I cannot see the Reds sticking with the 4-2-3-1 which was a mainstay under Rafa Benitez and now under Dalglish. It was a formation that Torres flourished in when on the top of his form but with the arrival of Carroll and Suarez, the formation seems to be less conducive for them both to fit into the starting eleven.
When Carroll and Suarez are both fit, the 4-2-3-1 formation would mean Carroll filling the lone striker position while Luis Suarez gets a spot in one of the two wide positions. I would be very uncomfortable with such a scenario as a player who is bought for £23million and is primarily a goalscorer should not be pushed out of position. He needs to play in his favoured role behind the striker. In that case some would say the 4-2-3-1 could be kept with Suarez taking up the Gerrard role behind the striker but this again has a fundamental problem. Do you play both Meireles and Gerrard in the holding midfield roles negating their attacking attributes or do you play one of them out of position to play a holding midfielder such as Lucas?
If you take the second option, the problem of width and service to Andy Carroll becomes a problem. For Carroll to excel in his role as target man, he needs quality delivery from wide areas, and wingers are essential for good service for the 22 year old. In the long term, quality, pacey wingers will be required and to get the best out of Carroll and Suarez, a 4-4-2 formation will probably be required. How this affects the positions of Steven Gerrard, Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva, it will be interesting to find out and it will be intriguing to see how Kenny Dalglish lays out team tactically in upcoming matches. Against Stoke on Wednesday I can see them sticking with one up front as Andy Carroll is still sidelined for a few weeks with a thigh injury, but in the long term, Liverpool’s tactics will change.
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Read more of David Tully’s articles at Live4Liverpool
In January Spurs completed the signing of South African centre-back Bongani Khumalo and it now appears that they are returning to his former club Supersport United to look at another potential transfer target. The player in question is young South African left winger Lyle Lakay who at 18 is shaping up to be a good prospect.
The youngster previously impressed on trial with the club however he couldn’t be signed because of work permit issues, but the North London side are now keeping contact with the player should there be a possibility of doing a deal. The players representative confirmed this by recently saying:
“They are keeping an eye on him and they are aware that he may not be eligible to play in England as yet, even if they wish for him to join them now”.
To obtain a work permit to play in England Lakay would have to be signed by Spurs now and then loaned out to another European team for a season, or be playing at international level on a regular basis. Bogani Khumalo had played for South Africa 19 times before Tottenham could complete the deal so it would not be out of the question that Lakay would have to play a similar amount for a deal to be completed.
It is always good to see a Premier League side monitoring young talent, however in this case there are a few question marks. Lakay hasn’t been capped yet, and at the age of 19 by the time he has enough international appearances to obtain a work permit he may not be so young and there is also the fact that he is not a consistent starter for his club in South Africa and is currently on loan at Cape Town FC. The fact that he impressed in a trial spell is encouraging but this deal seems like it could still be some way off being completed, but never the less it might be one to keep your eyes on should something develop.
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Juventus manager Luigi Delneri said he will remain at the post of the Serie A powerhouse, even if they lose to Cesena on Saturday.The Bianconeri have lost three straight league games and sit 10 points behind fourth-placed Lazio, and another defeat at the hands of the 17th-placed side could spell the end of the 60-year-old’s tenure at the Stadio Olimpico. But Delneri denied his managerial stint was about to end, regardless of the result, rendering the rumours about his job safety as untrue.”It does not go through my head one second in terms of resigning,” Delneri said on Friday.”(Rumours) are part of the game. I spoke with the president (Andrea Agnelli) yesterday and we agreed on what we had previously said over the last few days. There is faith.”But Delneri added he will not tolerate many more poor performances from his side, as they have left themselves with a tough task of climbing the table into the Champions League places.”Juventus must try and get over this negative period. It starts against Cesena and there will be a series of ten consecutive games. We cannot make mistakes in any of them,” he said.
Werder Bremen tasted victory for the first time in seven matches in the Bundesliga with a 3-1 away triumph over Freiburg on Sunday.The win moved Thomas Schaaf’s men three points clear of the relegation zone, a necessary boost to aid last season’s third-placed side.Sandro Wagner put the visitors ahead at the badenova-Stadion in the 13th minute, but Freiburg were level four minutes after half-time when Papiss Cisse converted a penalty.Super substitute Marko Marin then set up Claudio Pizarro to score and put Bremen ahead, before Marin himself netted in the 90th minute to top off the victory.It was Freiburg’s second consecutive loss, and they remain in eighth place on 37 points.Mainz claimed fourth spot on the table with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over seventh-placed Hamburg at Imtech Arena.Marcell Jansen put the hosts ahead after 17 minutes, and Hamburg maintained their lead to the break.Andre Schurrle equalised for Mainz early in the second half, but a quick reply saw Hamburg back in front via Mladen Petric.But a near immediate equaliser came in an unlikely source for Mainz, when Hamburg midfielder Gojko Kacar conceded an own goal in the 61st minute.It was Schurrle who fired the winner for the visitors in the 82nd minute, before Florian Heller made sure of the points with a goal six minutes later.Mainz moved six points clear on the table of their Sunday opponents, and are four points from third-placed Hannover and a Champions League spot for next season.
Yesterday evening, as Manchester City lost in the Europa League Round of Sixteen, I saw something I never expected I would ever see at a football match. I can only assume, due to the kick off being at the unusually early time of 6pm, that the man I witnessed eating soup at half time hadn’t had time to get home from work and eat something. So he had it at half time, instead. Since taking over the catering at Eastlands, Marco Pierre White has got a lot to answer for. Including the very latest chant of “Who ate all the Salmon Goujons with Wholemeal Crumb Coating, Sauté Potatoes and Fresh Garden Peas?”
I might have made that up.
But, while we’re talking about chants, it was nice to hear City’s latest adopted chant get another airing last night. Not only has it become a regular thing, taken on this season, but it’s starting to catch on, too, which is nice. I am, of course, being sarcastic about our new favourite song of “you’re not fit to referee.” Though that doesn’t quite push my sarcasm buttons as far in as “you’re worse than Clattenburg”, but that’s only ever wheeled out every other week, these days.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I do think that the referee from last night’s Europa League exit wasn’t great, but moaning about every decision given against City in every game and then singing one of the aforementioned songs is starting to get tiresome. There’s no agenda against City; there’s just some occasional instances of incompetence. Some weeks you’d think we’d lost.
And, having watched a fair few games from other leagues this season, I can say with some degree of confidence that, on a regular basis, we’re blessed with some of the best referees in this country. I think it was Lokeren vs. Racing Genk in the Jupiler Pro League where the standard of officiating went beyond abysmal and into the hilarious. You’ve not lived until you’ve seen a player booked (and concede a free kick) for being blatantly fouled.
Anyway, back to the point – because there is one. Somewhere.
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There’s been something of an overkill from City fans recently when it comes down to the officials. Singing every week that the referee’s not qualified to do his job, or that he’s worse than the one we have deemed the worst because of a bad game he had a while back, or that he does unsavoury things whilst alone in the privacy of his own home, it becomes more of a routine and it loses all effect.
Okay, so maybe last night was a poor showing: City players were booked for fair challenges, the referee fell for Dynamo Kiev’s diving antics and numerous ‘injuries’ that seemed to be miraculously cured about 90 seconds later (one even including a stretcher ride), there was a distinct difference in the awards of soft free kicks… He got the red card right, though. And didn’t give any unjust goals or rule out any fair ones… He just made us retake the odd free kick or two and didn’t award a foul throw.
But we can’t really blame anyone but ourselves for losing the tie; the second goal in the away leg was the really big killer and Lord alone knows what was going through Balotelli’s head when he decided to leave an impression on Popov. Literally.
In fact, Balotelli became quite the convenient excuse when he did the idiotic thing and made the molehill that City were facing a mountain. Between him and the referee, it does gloss over the fact that a lot of fans greatly underestimated our opponents. Kiev may well have gotten away with the oldest play acting in the book, but they did get themselves two goals and I suppose it’s a compliment to City that they resorted to the tactics they did in order to win the tie.
Though, if City are going to get anywhere, they’ll need to beat teams that play in that style – Kiev weren’t going to come and open the game up, especially not with a two goal lead, and sometimes the poorer teams will have to break the game up to get what they want. How else would Birmingham, Blackburn or Manchester United have taken a point back from Eastlands?
And, in fact, in all of the aftermath of the exit from the Europa League, we’re forgetting that a ten man City almost got what they needed to force extra time against a strong Kiev team. City played quite well and, on another night, would have got that second goal, and perhaps a third, too. It’s easy to forget that City were the only team left in the draw that hadn’t previously played in the Champions League.
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Some weeks, referees will have a poor game. Some weeks that will be at City. But this feeling with the referee cheating us out of matches or decisions is becoming obsessive. So much as a throw-in goes the wrong way and that could spark off shouts of a conspiracy. Every week.
Anyway, if there really was a conspiracy to stop City in their tracks, then whoever is behind it isn’t very good at it. Not with City in third place in the league and in an FA Cup semi final, at any rate.