Filed under: EPL Futbol, Manchester City | Tags: EPL Futbol, Manchester City, Shaun Wright-Phillips
It’s a good day for EPL fans everywhere and definitely a feelgood story for Shaun Wright-Phillips, who saw his first start in the last four months. Both of the league leaders, Chelsea & Liverpool were brought to a draw by their counterparts. But the big story of the weekend took place at the Stadium of Light, where Shaun Wright-Phillips was once again wearing the Manchester City sky blue uniform.
He looked comfortable with the ball and almost seemed like he had been playing with the same group of players for the longest time. He created plays each time he was given the opportunity with the ball and scored two fantastic goals. The second goal was a tricky chip passed Craig Gordon, which saw the ball trickle towards the far post and into the goal.
The visiting City supporters were delighted with SWP’s return, chanting, “Once A Blue, Always A Blue” to their prodigal son.
SWP will make his home debut and hope for revenge when Chelsea visit the City of Manchester Stadium on September 13th.
Guardiola has made significant moves since succeeding Frank Rijkaard as first team manager. Real Madrid have taken the last two La Liga trophies; something the new manager of Barcelona is looking to change. Guadiola beat top clubs in Europe, including Chelsea and Manchester United for the signature of Dani Alves (€29 million). The Brazilian attacking right back will be essential, strengthening a position Gianluca Zambrotta was not able to fill successfully. Dani Alves’ Sevilla teammate, Seydou Keita was also signed by Barcelona at €14 million.
In early June, news broke out that Guardiola was willing to let Deco, Eto’o and Ronaldinho go. The three were said to not be included in the future plans of the club. Thierry Henry was also rumored to go with a possible return to the EPL. However, Guardiola told reporters that both Henry and Eto’o were set to stay at the club.
The sales of Deco (Chelsea £8 million), Ronaldinho (A.C. Milan €21 million) was a good move, as both Deco and Ronaldinho were set to pave the way for younger players, such as Bojan Krkić. Giovanni Dos Santos would also be sold to Tottenham for £4.7 million.
Guardiola continued his Summer spending spree, signing a young 21-year-old centerhalf at around €16.5 million to help solidify his back-four. Martín Cáceres of Uruguay was signed from Villarreal and is one of the best young defenders in the world.
In the EPL, Arsène Wenger was frustrated with news that Mathieu Flamini had signed for A.C. Milan early in the Summer. But the Arsenal boss would learn a month later that another one of his key midfielders was set to leave the club. Aliaksandr Hleb, a high-flying winger abandoned his Arsenal club to join the Barcelona revolution at a fee said to be around £11.8 million. The thought of Leo Messi, Xavi, Iniesta & Hleb all playing at midfield is a mouth-watering tease and should be a treat for the eyes.
Roman Pavlyuchenko completes his move to Tottenham from Spartak Moscow at a fee set around £14 million. This now brings Berbatov closer to his dream move to Old Trafford. Diego Milito is next on Tottenham’s list. The signing of the Zaragoza man should be the last move made by the club and will help to bolster its strike force.
Filed under: Chelsea, Robinho, Transfers | Tags: Chelsea, Robinho, Transfers
With two days away from the close of the Summer transfer window, it seems there is still a 50/50 chance of Robinho landing in London by Monday. Though Scolari has already told the media that Chelsea can win titles without Robinho, Peter Kenyon continues to try and negotiate a deal with Real Madrid. Robinho has stated that talks with Chelsea are ongoing, despite news that talks have broken down. News reports today have suggested that the player has been left out of the roster for Real Madrid’s opening match, stirring the media once again.
But with or without Robinho, Scolari has a talented winger in Joe Cole. Joe’s not as fancy with his footwork, but his persistent play and tougher edge should win his manager’s eyes as the season goes on.
Chelsea are set to battle against London neighbors, Tottenham on Sunday without some key midfielders. Essien, Mikel and Ballack are out with injuries, making way for Malouda and Kalou for cameo appearances.
Dimitar Berbatov is set to follow fellow movers, Younes Kaboul and Robbie Keane out of Tottenham. Reports suggest Manchester United have finally reached an agreement of around £28 million to get their main transfer target of the Summer.
The funds raised over the sale of Berbatov will be invested in the capturing of Russian targets, Andrei Arshavin of Zenit St. Petersburg and Roman Pavlyuchenko of Spartak Moscow.
Filed under: Super Cup | Tags: Manchester United, Super Cup, Zenit St. Petersburg
Zenit St. Petersburg 2 – 1 Manchester United
Filed under: EPL Fantasy, EPL Futbol, feelgood fantasy | Tags: EPL Fantasy, feelgood fantasy
The first few weeks of EPL futbol is always tough to call. Players are still warming up, while certain stars have decided to start early. But it looks like there are no easy matches to predict in Week 3, especially when you have a couple of the newly promoted teams performing well.
Petr Cech would be the best choice at goal. He looks to make it three consecutive clean sheets this season against a struggling Tottenham side, while a very strong and healthy back-four for Chelsea will help the Czech keeper.
At central defense, John Terry & Ricardo Carvalho should have an easy task at the back. Tottenham has chosen to drop Dimitar Berbatov after ongoing turmoil surrounding the player’s insistance for a transfer move, leaving Darren Bent helpless up front. Manchester City’s, Vedran Corluka’s fine start to the 08/09 EPL campaign should hopefully continue against a red-hot Sunderland side. And Arsenal’s, Gael Clichy completes the back-four as the Gunners take on Newcastle.
Last week’s Chelsea performance wasn’t exactly a treat for the eyes, but give credit to the high-pressure football Wigan used against their counterparts. But Deco is an easy choice at midfield, as he seems to be loving life so far in the EPL and there’s a good chance he’ll be allowed more room to roam on Sunday. Elano had a fantastic start to last season before fading in the second half of it. But he’s off to his old tricks again and count on Mark Hughes to keep pushing the Brazilian ace for success. Joe Cole scored 2 goals the last time Chelsea met Tottenham in an epic eight-goal thriller. I’ll bet my money he’ll be back on the scoresheet come Sunday. Samir Nasri completes the midfield for Week 3, despite Arsenal’s poor performance against London rivals, Fulham.
I’m anticipating Fernando Torres to spark-up within the next few weeks. With Gerrard out with a groin operation, Torres leads Liverpool against an inconsistent Villan side and hope that his team can stay at the top of the standings. Roque Santa Cruz should be a safe choice at the striker position, as Blackburn look to keep their decent start to the season with a win against West Ham.
There have been interesting transfer sagas this Summer and Berbatov’s case is one of them. C. Ronaldo had to take back his words after claiming that he had become a slave under United after their refusal to let him leave for the Bernabéu. But Berbatov’s case is different, as the player has now become a loner in his club with Ramos reiterating that he would let him rot in the pine for the rest of the season.
But would Tottenham actually do that and waste money on a high-profile player that refuses to play for his club? Tottenham is smarter than that, at least we hope they are. Despite United knocking on their door since the market opened, Tottenham has refused, shutting the door on the face of United. The answer is simple for Ramos. He will not let his classy striker join one of the big four. Now, Bayern Munich is said to be wiping their shoes on Tottenham’s doorsteps and is real keen for the services of the Bulgarian striker.
And if Tottenham can agree to a deal, they’ll have the funds to bring in a replacement right away with Russia’s Roman Pavlyuchenko in Ramos’ sights to move from Spartak Moscow. Pavlyuchenko was one of the stars in Euro ‘08 and would be a bargain, as opposed to the the overpriced, Andrei Arshavin of Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Filed under: Football Kits, Internazionale, feelgood kits | Tags: feelgood kits, Football Kits, Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano Away Kit 08/09
