andy, Tipster at Sports Betting Day - Best Bookmakers and Betting Sites

2013 Premier League Asia Trophy – Tottenham 1-3 Sunderland – Report and Reaction

andy — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 18:34:29 +0000

Sunderland surprised many today after picking up a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the first semi-final of the 2013 Premier League Asia Trophy.
Gylfi Sigurdsson initially put Tottenham in front in the first-half, but they only held the lead for a short period time before new Sunderland signing Cabral levelled things up. The Black Cats then took the lead midway through the second-half with a rare goal from returning Wes Brown, and another new signing David Moberg Karlsson completed the scoring right at the end and secured his new side a place in Saturday’s final.
The game’s kick-off was initially delayed by half an hour due to heavy rain falling and settling on the pitch, and with the delay also came a decision to play two 40 minute halves instead of the usual 45. The decision probably wasn’t a bad one as during the first-half in particular, areas of the pitch, especially around the centre looked in bad shape. It did allow for more play to take place on the wings as some players were at times struggling to pass the ball in the middle of the pitch as the mud and water played havoc on the fast moving ball.
There were no real clear cut chances for the first part of the first-half, with the only talking points being the state of the pitch and how it could lead to potential mistakes. The deadlock was broken about 28 minutes into the game when Spurs Kyle Walker made a short run down the right-hand side of the pitch to the edge of the box where he then played a low ball across goal to Sigurdsson who hit it first time, and despite a slight deflection off Sunderland defender John O’Shea, it still sped past a helpless Vito Mannone in goal and put Tottenham in front.
Just 6 minutes later Sunderland were level after Michael Dawson played a pass to Tom Huddlestone who failed to control it and allowed another new Sunderland player Jozy Altidore the chance to flick the ball into the path of Cabral who ran a short distance with it before tucking it past Heurelho Gomes in the Tottenham goal. Despite the problems with the pitch, Huddlestone couldn’t really blame it for his error as he just simply wasn’t able to control the short pass the way he may have initially intended to.
Almost immediately after the second-half started, Sunderland had a great chance to take the lead. Stephane Sessegnon played a deep cross in from the left side and it was met by the head of Adam Johnson who directed it towards Altidore who was onside and right in front of the goal, the American striker attempted to make contact with the ball but missed it completely and let Tottenham off the hook early on. The response to this was a dominant spell for Spurs, where for about 20 minutes, the forward line of Emmanuel Adebayor, Clint Dempsey and substitute Jermain Defoe looked quite dangerous, but any chances they created were either off target, blocked or saved by Mannone.
Then on 64 minutes, Sessegnon popped up on the right hand side this time and delivered a deadly cross which was headed behind by the Spurs defence. Moberg Karlsson who had just recently come on as a substitute delivered the resulting corner into the box, and Wes Brown beat his marker to the ball and planted it into the far corner of the goal to put Sunderland 2-1 in front. Tottenham could have prevented the goal if they had somebody marking the far post, but it was a pleasing moment for Brown to mark his comeback with a goal after missing all of last season through injury.
The goal seemed to then bring extra life to Sunderland who continued to create great chances thanks mainly to the play of Sessegnon, but some quality goalkeeping from sub Tottenham keeper Brad Friedel kept the score at 2-1. The standout save came from Sunderland substitute Connor Wickham’s headed effort on goal, with his first touch since coming on, he connected with an Emanuele Giaccherini cross and aimed his shot for the top corner, but Friedel rose high to keep it out with just his left hand.
Eventually the 42-year-old American shot stopper couldn’t keep Sunderland out any more, and in the last move before the final whistle blew, Sessegnon in the middle of the opposition half with his back to goal, received the ball and flicked it over his head for Moberg Karlsson to run in and calmly slot the ball past Friedel into the opposite bottom corner of the goal and confirm a thoroughly deserved Sunderland victory.
For their first proper match of the pre-season period, Paolo Di Canio will no doubt be delighted by the way his team performed despite the bad conditions. All of his new signings managed to get a run out and some such as Cabral and Giaccherini will have certainly given their supporters good first impressions. They will also be pleased to see Brown back after such a lengthy spell out of action and the performance of Sessegnon also cannot be ignored after he caused so many problems for today’s Tottenham side. The team looked very confident at times today despite playing on a dodgy surface, and will no doubt relish the upcoming trophy final this Saturday.
Andre Villas-Boas will not be as happy with his team’s performance today. While the poor pitch certainly played a factor, his side controlled most of the possession for the match and had chances early in the second-half to take the lead but just couldn’t apply the killer touch when it was needed. The team were missing Gareth Bale today who according to club reports was injured, but speculation on him will continue as stories in the Spanish press have emerged that the 24-year-old Welshman has agreed a deal with Real Madrid. Also joining Bale on the sidelines is Jan Vertonghen. The Belgian defender came on as a substitute at half-time but only lasted 5 minutes before being stretchered off after landing awkwardly on his ankle during an aerial challenge. Supporters and management will hope that it is not as serious as first feared, but Spurs may well have to do without him for Saturday’s third-place playoff game.
Tottenham First-Half XI: Gomes, Walker, Dawson, Caulker, Rose, Lennon, Parker, Huddlestone, Sigurdsson, Dempsey, Adebayor
Tottenham Second-Half XI: Friedel, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen (Fryers), Rose, Sigurdsson, Parker, Huddlestone (Carroll), Dempsey (Townsend), Adebayor, Defoe
Sunderland First-Half XI: Mannone, Gardner, Brown, O’Shea, Colback, Johnson, Larsson, Cabral, Giaccherini, Altidore, Sessegnon
Sunderland Second-Half XI: Mannone, Gardner, Brown (Roberge), O’Shea, Colback, Johnson (Moberg Karlsson), Larsson (Ba), Cabral, Giaccherini (McClean), Altidore (Wickham), Sessegnon
Possession: TOT 57% SUN 42%
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Gus Poyet Sacked – Opinions Certainly Divided

andy — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:04:23 +0000

Gus Poyet finds himself now looking for new work after his contract at Brighton and Hove Albion was terminated last night, with the now ex-Seagulls manager appearing to have been made aware of the news while he was working as a TV pundit for The Confederations Cup.
Poyet was originally supposed to be analysing the first-half of the game between Nigeria and Spain for the BBC, but the majority of the 15 minutes assigned for that ended up becoming a discussion about the breaking news with regards to what happened at Brighton and where he can likely go from here. Poyet had initially been suspended, pending investigation from his previous position last month after the teams Play-Off Semi-Final defeat to rivals Crystal Palace, but the suspension was made over reports of a falling out with boardroom members and a breach of contract and nothing to do with the club falling just short of a place in next seasons Premier League. Now a month on and the powers that be at The Amex Stadium have decided that they can no longer continue their working relationship with Poyet and have officially decided that now is the time to part ways.
The club have issued a statement on their official website denying Poyet’s claims that he was taken completely by surprise and first made aware of the decision by a member of the BBC’s production team printing off a copy of the official statement regarding his departure and handing it to him during the ongoing match he was meant to be watching. Instead they claim that meetings took place over the course of the weekend including yesterday with Poyet and his legal representatives where they state that the Uruguayan was made fully aware of the fact that a decision regarding his dismissal was pending and that he knew exactly what was going on.
It is entirely up to the reader to believe whether or not they think that statement from the club is true or not, what presumably would be on most Brighton fans minds now other than who the new manager will be is why could this decision not have been announced at a more appropriate time? Regardless of the board’s feelings towards Poyet now, given all he had done for the club, such as turning them from a lower-half League One side in 2010 to a promotion chasing Championship side in 2013, why could this decision not have been announced publicly today instead? That way they could have avoided the criticism from fans and outsiders for the bad timing of this decision and the increase in sympathy that Gus Poyet has received from it. In the end it may well be something that won’t even bother the decision makers at the club, but really it does the reputation of Brighton and Hove Albion as a whole not much good.
Poyet has announced that he intends to appeal the decision to dismiss him, which also prevents the club from hiring a new manager on a permanent basis until a decision is made. With clubs now starting to prepare for pre-season, the timing of this could well come back to haunt Brighton who will almost certainly start their preparation campaign with no new manager there to set out initial hopes and expectations for the upcoming season. Brighton are still a strong team regardless and many will expect them to be amongst the frontrunners again, but if they don’t get off to a good start and end up missing out again, many will perhaps consider this saga between Poyet and the board members as a reason for any potential failure.

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Arsenal Angle – Gunning for Gold

andy — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:06:05 +0000

Now that Arsenal would appear to be in a position to spend big money this summer, what exactly does Arsene Wenger need in order to strengthen his squad and get them challenging for the top honours again?

Ever since Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis spoke publicly about how the club was now able to take a far more competitive stance in the transfer market, rumours began to spread about big-name players who could potentially be plying their trade at The Emirates Stadium next season. Strikers in particular have been mentioned the most with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Wayne Rooney amongst the names being found most often on websites and in newspapers. But as it stands, the club have yet to begin any activity in the transfer market.

Predicting transfers is not an easy game to play, particularly as every player moves for a different reason. Surely whoever decides to move to Arsenal would be doing it purely because they want the challenge of trying to get the club challenging for The Premier League title again and becoming one of the strongest teams in European and World football. Using Higuain and Rooney as examples, if either of them were to sign for The Gunners this summer, while they certainly wouldn’t be cheap, they would show that Arsenal definitely mean business and could inspire the current players to give that little bit extra this season and maybe even convince other players looking for a move to a new club that Arsenal should be considered a viable option.

Should a new big-name striker arrive at The Emirates, it could have the potential to cause a headache or two for some of the players already at the club. If Arsene Wenger continues to play games with only one striker next season like he did for the previous one, it might not be great news for the likes of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott. Giroud certainly didn’t have a bad first season at Arsenal, but he came nowhere near replicating the kind of form Robin Van Persie had at the club the season before he joined, while Walcott who has made it very clear that he would like to play more games as a striker will certainly have less of an opportunity to do so if a new signing joins and Giroud then becomes Wenger’s second choice striker. So unless the manager decides to do a complete tactical overhaul and find a new way to accommodate all three into his new system, there may well be problems later on in the season if a player doesn’t feel he is being used to the best of his abilities.

As well as up front, there are certainly other areas in the squad that The Gunners should look to try and strengthen. If I were Arsene Wenger I’d make signing new defenders a priority if the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna end up leaving. I’d also be on the hunt for a new left winger as while it is a position that can be filled by the likes of Lukas Podolski and Gervinho, there are much stronger players out there that could do a better job and pose a much greater threat to opposition players. While there are a whole host of names out there that I’m sure Arsenal fans would love to see wearing the famous red and white shirt next season, it all comes down to whether or not a player is really interested in moving to the club and all transfer and contract talks run smoothly.

Perhaps all it will take is for the first Arsenal signing this summer to already be a household name that will then inspire several other top players out there to consider Arsenal a good choice of team to play for. Until news of any transfer offer breaks, speculation will continue on who will potentially be playing as part of an Arsenal side next season that will be looking to try and bring back the glory days of the past and once again make themselves a powerful footballing force for all of the world to see.

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England U21 0-1 Italy U21 – Report and Reaction

andy — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:42:10 +0000

England’s Under-21 European Championship campaign got off to a disappointing start after a 1-0 loss to Italy in Tel Aviv.
Lorenzo Insigne’s second half free-kick was enough to earn victory for The Azzurri and send them top of the group after Israel and Norway’s 2-2 draw earlier in the day. The result was ultimately a fair one as England were outplayed and put under pressure throughout the majority of the game.
The Italians were playing with great confidence and managed to produce some great quality long passes from the back that were causing trouble for the England on both the wide and central areas of the pitch. Insigne was looking particularly dangerous on the left hand side and at times was creating all sorts of problems for the England defence.
England did get the first shot on target in the match after 9 minutes when Marvin Sordell crossed the ball into the box from the right hand side, but an awkward bounce meant that lone striker Connor Wickham was unable to really make the right contact with the ball and it was a simple stop for Francesco Bardi in the Italian goal. Ciro Immobile, Alessandro Florenzi and Insigne all had a variety of chances to put Italy in the lead throughout the first half but were unable to convert at the time. Insigne coming the closest after 24 minutes when he played a clever one-two with Immobile but England goalkeeper Jack Butland managed to make himself big and force the 22 year old Napoli player to place his shot over the bar.
The biggest talking point of the half came on 39 minutes, England were originally on the attack when Nathaniel Clyne had space to run on the right, his cross was a good one but Wickham was unable to take the chance and the Italians were then presented with the chance to counter, Insigne ran from his half and passed the ball to Florenzi who was in space, after his touch took the ball into the 18 yard box, Jack Robinson mistimed the tackle getting none of the ball, but the referee gave no penalty to the fury of the Italian players, dugout and fans.
Stuart Pearce’s side started more positively in the second half and on 49 minutes, they believed that they had taken a valuable lead, only to see it snatched from their grasp by a change of decision from the referee.
Jonjo Shelvey swung a corner in from the left hand side which wasn’t well defended by the Italian defence and it allowed Steven Caulker to touch the ball onto Craig Dawson who headed the ball into the top left hand corner of the net. The stadium announcer believed it to be a goal and let the fans in the stadium know of the scorer, only for the goal to be disallowed after the referee’s assistant believed Caulker had fouled Matteo Bianchetti in the build up to Dawson converting the chance.
The decision seemed to deflate England somewhat and Italy began to once again take control of the match, some dodgy defending first from Robinson gave Florenzi an opportunity to cross and give Fabio Borini the chance to open the scoring but his far post header was tipped wide by Butland. Then shortly afterwards the goalkeeper accidently kicked the ball off Borini but this time the Liverpool striker’s shot went wide of the post.
With just over 10 minutes to go, Clyne fouled Italian substitute Manolo Gabbiadini just outside of the 18 yard box but the striker tumbled over inside leaving the referee with a tricky decision to make. He awarded the free-kick once again to the dismay of all Italians watching and booked Clyne for his part in the foul. Insigne then stepped up and fired his free-kick into the top left hand corner of the goal past the diving Jack Butland who managed to get fingertips to the ball but couldn’t keep it out.
All hope appeared to be lost for England until a glimmer of hope came in the 93rd minute of the game when substitute Nathaniel Chalobah was fouled 25 yards from goal. Jordan Henderson stepped up to take the free-kick but his effort smashed off the wall, but the referee decided the kick would be retaken from a slightly closer range after he wasn’t happy with the Italian walls position. Henderson took the second kick once again which this time was on target but was well saved by Bardi. This proved to be the last act of the game as the referee blew for full time and an end to a disappointing game for Stuart Pearce and his team.
It was a thoroughly deserved win for Italy. The performances from players such as Insigne and Marco Verratti were particularly impressive and they will almost definitely be two players to look out for as the tournament goes on. I would now expect Italy to go on and win this group, but after the entertaining opening game between Norway and hosts Israel, The Azzurri will still need to do a professional job so as to ensure no slip ups like we see so often in these kind of tournaments from teams in the past.
England always seemed to be lacking that killer touch in this game that would have given them a better chance of securing a better result. The quality in the final third was not there having only managed six shots in the whole game compared to Italy who managed thirteen. They managed to play the ball well enough to each other from defence to midfield, but were struggling to give any decent support to Connor Wickham up front. Nathan Redmond who was playing in his first game for the Under-21’s tonight had a good game on the right wing while his opposite on the left Marvin Sordell was unable to be as effective. Stuart Pearce will need to quickly assess which players he felt did enough tonight to convince him that they will be good enough to get the job done in Saturdays must win game against Norway.
Quick Stats
Possession: ENG 39% ITA 61%
Attendance: 10,675
ENG Team: Butland, Clyne, Caulker, Dawson, Robinson, Henderson, Lowe,
Shelvey (McEachran), Redmond, Sordell (Chalobah), Wickham (Delfouneso)
4-5-1 Formation
ITA Team: Bardi, Donati, Bianchetti, Caldirola, Biraghi, Florenzi, Marrone (Rossi),
Verratti, Insigne, Borini (Destro), Immobile (Gabbiadini)
4-4-2 Formation
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Chelsea Confirmation Is All That's Left

andy — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:16:27 +0000

It took me a while to believe that it could happen, but now I like many others before me am completely convinced that Jose Mourinho will make his long awaited return to Chelsea and English football within the coming days.
It comes after an interview on Spanish television where “The Special One” announced that he fully expected confirmation of his return to Stamford Bridge to be made by the end of this week. A day before this, Real Madrid President Florentino Perez also made comments that suggested similar movements for the now ex-Madrid Head Coach. While nothing has been confirmed by Chelsea themselves, these comments from Mourinho and Perez have done enough to convince me that the Portuguese mans return is imminent, after I admittedly spent a long time believing that it might not happen.
The main reason as to why it might not happen was simply two words: Roman Abramovich. The wealthy Russian owner of Chelsea has a well-documented track record of sacking managers when things aren’t going his way. Mourinho has been the longest serving manager of “The Abramovich Era” lasting for just over three years. His departure in September 2007 came after a mixed start to the season along with reports of a bust-up with Abramovich.
I’ve always had the belief that despite being the most successful manager in the history of the club, Mourinho would never be welcomed back to Chelsea unless he repaired his broken relationship with the chairman. Not long ago I read reports that the pair had patched things up to an extent a few years ago and Abramovich had reportedly bought Mourinho a Ferrari as some sort of a present. This tied with other stories reporting that the two men were on better terms helped me believe that the pair could work together again. The announcement last month that Mourinho was to depart The Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season certainly made a Chelsea return a much stronger possibility, but the 50 year olds most recent comments are enough for me to make my mind up completely.
While Mourinho certainly departs Madrid with divided opinions amongst their supporters, he goes to Chelsea knowing that the majority of the fans at that club love him and will back him all the way. As well as Chelsea, he also draws great interest from reporters, neutrals and football personalities alike. He will always leave people talking or writing about him and ensures that his imminent return will go down well with almost everybody, including those that can’t stand him, because even they will be talking about him, just in their own different and negative way.
All we wait for now is Chelsea to confirm the move and then the talk will begin on how Mourinho will shape his squad for next season. Whatever movements take place with regards to players, you would surely have to consider Chelsea as contenders for The Premier League title next season already. Mourinho has proven that he knows how to build a title winning side having managed to win the championship at least once in every country he has managed in. The title race is surely going to be a much closer contest next season with the top three teams from this season all changing their managers. The potential change in styles along with player arrivals and departures as well as the normal ups and downs of The Premier League mean that picking a winner right now is next to impossible for me at least.
While it certainly doesn’t guarantee anything, it is worth noting that Chelsea have won the last two Premier League seasons that have taken place right before a World Cup campaign has been due to start. Mourinho led them to glory in 2006 and Carlo Ancelotti guided them to success again in 2010. With a whole host of International players in the Chelsea ranks, perhaps there has been that extra incentive for the players to go out and give a bit more in the final season before the biggest tournament in the world, so as to ensure that they’ve got themselves a place on their respective national teams plane to the finals. It could well just be a coincidence and something that hasn’t even crossed their minds, but it is definitely something that I will be keeping track of throughout the course of next season.
Hopefully we don’t have to wait as long as Friday to hear the news of his second coming and the sooner the news breaks the better, but for now at least we can continue hearing about other stories in the world of football such as the futures of players like Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain, and the start of the Under-21 European Championships on Wednesday, by then with a bit of luck, the news will have broken and we will then be in for a real treat when Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge for his first press conference as the new Chelsea manager.
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Manchester United Angle – What Next For Wilf?

andy — Tue, 28 May 2013 17:33:31 +0000

Crystal Palace will be playing Premier League football next season after a 1-0 win in The Championship Play-Off Final against Watford. One of the major talking points from the big day was the performance and the future of England International winger Wilfried Zaha.
We all know that Zaha agreed a £15m deal to sign with Manchester United back in January whilst agreeing to stay at Palace for the remainder of this season on loan. Now that the season has finished and Zaha has helped Palace achieve promotion to the Premier League, what can we expect to see from the 20 year old next season?
While cameras at Wembley managed to catch sight of various well known faces sitting in the crowd such as Elton John and Jose Mourinho, there was no sign of new Manchester United manager David Moyes, but he was surely watching from somewhere so that he could keep an eye on the man who will be joining up with him when he starts his new job officially in just over a month’s time. With no shortage of talent already at his disposal and Zaha now coming in to add to it, what will Moyes look to get out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s last ever signing next season?
There are several things that Moyes will have to consider during pre-season with regards to his new man coming in. The first is whether or not he thinks he is ready for first team football straight away or if he feels that he needs to continue developing as a player first, whether that be in the Under 21 side or on loan at another club. Not forgetting that the World Cup is only a year away and should England qualify, Zaha will surely want to be part of the squad that travels to Brazil next summer, but he’ll only be able to do that if he’s played enough football next season and put in good performances on a regular basis. His new manager will obviously have a big say on whether or not Zaha is in with a chance of making the 23 man squad next May.
Should Zaha stay at Manchester United and Moyes decides to put him in the first team immediately, it could well mark the end of another winger’s career at Old Trafford. 3 candidates already spring to mind who could potentially find themselves looking for a new club in the very near future. Nani and Ashley Young have had very quiet seasons compared to previous ones and while Antonio Valencia played a lot of games this campaign, he even admitted himself that he could have performed a lot better in many of the games he played a part in. All 3 are currently in their mid to late 20’s but Moyes may just feel that at least 1 has to go just to give the younger players a chance to build a great reputation at an early age. Another thing to take into account is the possibility of Moyes signing another winger for the club that both increases the chances of a player being sold bur also potentially decreases the chances of Zaha getting playing time in the first team.
Alternatively, Moyes may well like the look of Zaha but doesn’t think he can play him in the first team just yet. Therefore he will either spend the majority of the season playing with the likes of Larnell Cole and Nick Powell in the Under 21’s side or he will get the opportunity to go out on loan again, with a team in the Premier League being the most likely destination for him. If he is made available for loan, you do have to feel that Crystal Palace would certainly be favourites to take him back. The player spent his entire youth career at Palace before making the step up to senior level in 2010 and already on a number of occasions has thanked the club and expressed his love and best wishes for them. Surely if the opportunity arises to go back for a bit comes along he will almost certainly take it if he feels it will be a beneficial move football wise and it helps keep Palace in the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Regardless of what David Moyes decision will be with regards to how the player features in the next campaign, at only 20 years of age, Zaha is surely destined for greater successes even if they don’t come straight away. For now at least, he can enjoy the amazing feeling that comes with winning promotion before he heads off to Israel with the England Under-21 Squad for the European Championships where hopefully he and the rest of the team will have a successful and productive tournament before heading back to begin pre-season training with his new club. Then we will probably get a better idea of what might be in store for the promising youngster next season.
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UEFA U-21 Championships 2013 – A Chance To Impress

andy — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:13:51 +0000

The domestic season may well have just come to a close, but now a lot of attention now turns to something completely different that is happening this summer. The UEFA Under-21 Championships that take place in Israel next month.
While this tournament does take place every two years, more interest is generated in it when it takes place only a year before The World Cup as it gives any fans watching a great opportunity to see young players performing for their respective countries youth side and any player that performs well at this tournament might then be considered one to watch at the biggest competition in the world the following summer.
In 2009, the tournament was held in Sweden and won by Germany who demolished England 4-0 in the final. The German squad that year included players like Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil who went on to feature for the main squad at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa the following summer and they all played a key part in getting them to the semi-finals where they lost 1-0 to eventual winners Spain.
Out of the 8 nations participating this year, 7 of the squads have already been announced. Players such as Fabio Borini, Lewis Holtby and David De Gea who are well known to Premier League fans will all be representing Italy, Germany and Spain respectively whilst other well known players that play in Europe including Marco Verratti and Isco are also taking part. It is the perfect chance for the players involved to make a name for themselves and perhaps even earn the chance to play for a bigger club next season as well as being considered a potential key player at next year’s World Cup.
With regards to England coach Stuart Pearce’s selections for his side. Many talented players such as Luke Shaw, Tom Ince and Wilfried Zaha are all travelling to Israel to take part and will hopefully be able to have a big impact. I can’t really say at the moment whether or not I think they will win the competition or not as I need to see them play first, the chances may have been slightly higher if players such as Phil Jones, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were taking part, but Jones and Chamberlain will both be featuring in the senior sides upcoming friendly games while Wilshere is unavailable for both teams due to ankle surgery. The side going to Israel is a decent one but even if they don’t get to the final and win, if most of the players can live up to expectations, the belief will still be there that those players can go on and potentially play a key part in an England World Cup campaign next year providing they encounter no more glitches in qualifying.
With less than two weeks to go until the first game, England, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Russia and Spain will all be hoping that victory in this competition will be seen as a sign of greater things to come for the foreseeable future. The stage is set for what will hopefully be a great tournament that exceeds all expectations and provides us all with players to talk about who could potentially be shining stars at the greatly anticipated Fifa World Cup in Brazil next year.
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Gareth Bale – Going or Staying?

andy — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:49:27 +0000

A 5th placed finish means that its Europa League football once again for Tottenham Hotspur next season. The question now on almost all minds is simple. Will Gareth Bale be a Spurs player next season?
The 23 year old Welshman has been the North London clubs shining star this season picking up 3 Individual Player of the Year awards and scoring 21 of Spurs 66 league goals this season. Now regarded as one of the best players in the world, he has drawn comparisons with other greats in recent months and speculation about a summer move has been rife even before the last game of the season yesterday afternoon. Now that the 2012/2013 campaign has come to a close, speculation about where the midfielder will be playing next season increases.
The hurt was clear for all to see at White Hart Lane yesterday afternoon as despite a 1-0 win over Sunderland, it wasn’t enough to secure a top 4 finish as Arsenal picked up a 1-0 away victory at Newcastle United and secured the final spot for themselves by just a single point. To call the season a failure could be considered harsh given the kind of results they’ve achieved throughout the campaign such as wins over Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City just to name a few. There have also been some top performances from players like Bale and Jan Vertonghen which will have been a joy to behold for many supporters. Regarding the 5th place final standing, the main word that seems to be getting passed around at the moment is “Disappointment.”
Andre Villas-Boas admitted that it was a pity his side missed out on achieving their target despite coming so close, but that they would have to improve over the summer months to ensure that they don’t miss out again. He then said that he felt the club had to keep Gareth Bale if they were going to stand any chance of improving also. But after making it public knowledge at the PFA Awards ceremony that he wanted to be playing in the Champions League, is it perhaps too much of an ask to keep Bale in the white shirt of Tottenham?
While there would be many potential suitors for the player, if previous Spurs business strategy is anything to go by, the chances of him appearing for any other club in England could be slim to none. Remembering back to the last two summers, Chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell Luka Modric to Chelsea regardless of how much they were prepared to offer before eventually the Croatian midfielder signed for Real Madrid last August. If a foreign club comes in for Bale with a decent enough transfer bid then it could well be very hard for Levy not to turn the offer down knowing that if he did he is potentially upsetting his clubs best player by not allowing him the chance to compete with Europe’s elite.
There have been rumours and reports surfacing today that Bale has agreed a new contract with Spurs, but no confirmation as of yet. If this does turn out to be true then it may well put transfer speculation to bed at least for another season. It would also be a massive lift to his teammates if true and would hopefully be enough to encourage them to also improve and help the club go one step further next season. But until any news regarding Bale’s future is made public knowledge by White Hart Lane officials, the talk seems ever likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
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All Eyes on The Emirates

andy — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:20:20 +0000

Tonight, Champions League chasing Arsenal host relegation threatened Wigan Athletic at The Emirates Stadium. And with so much on the line for both clubs, this could well be considered as potentially the biggest game of the season so far.
The implications are simple. Wigan have to win to keep alive their hopes of survival, a draw will most likely not be enough as Sunderland in 17th have a +11 better goal difference than The Latics and it would take a massive goal swing for any miracle to occur. A loss will confirm relegation tonight after an 8 year spell in the top flight.
Arsenal will be looking to win the game so as to overtake rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the battle for a top four finish. A draw or a loss will still keep them in with a chance of making it, but Spurs will have the advantage going into the last game of the season this Sunday.
It has been 10 days since Arsenal last played, but that will have given Arsene Wenger plenty of time to come up with a plan for his team tonight and ensure that they are focussed on the task at hand. Olivier Giroud is the only absentee for The Gunners tonight as he serves the last game of his suspension. While Theo Walcott could be a frontrunner to take his place up front tonight, I believe Wenger will opt to play him on the right side again and have Lukas Podolski playing in the centre instead. Walcott has scored in each of his last two matches but his manager still seems to favour playing him out on the wing. Because of how much is at stake tonight, the manager will likely stick with what has got them results in recent matches even if not by a particularly large margin instead of taking a risk and trying something new that could potentially backfire on them big time.
While the home side have had plenty of time to prepare for this, the same can’t be said for the visitors who played as recently as 3 days ago when they stunned Manchester City and won the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium thanks to Ben Watson’s last-minute goal to win it 1-0. While Roberto Martinez might have a headache from all the celebrating, he could certainly have a selection headache too with regards to tonight’s game.
Tiredness might well play a factor in who he decides will start this match, plus he isn’t helped any further by the fact that defensive players such as Maynor Figueroa and Ronnie Stam are missing through injury. Regardless of all those setbacks, Wigan do have a slightly better away league record this season than their home one and while they may have suffered a costly defeat to Swansea City last week, Martinez will be hoping the success from Saturday along with the boost in morale and confidence will help see his side through to the right result tonight.
These sides met here roughly around this time last season when Wigan were still fighting to stay up and they managed to come away with a 2-1 victory. At this stage of the season given the reputation they’ve built for being able to pull off the unthinkable, rule them out of a result at your own peril. While this time around Arsenal do have a lot more at stake themselves, it will surely drive them on even more to avoid a potential upset.
With so much on the line, this tie will have so many people glued to television screens tonight for all sorts of different reasons just to see how this massive fixture unfolds and how it will set up the final day of what has been another thrilling Premier League season.
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36 Hours of Manchester Madness

andy — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:52:18 +0000

Normally at this time of the year, the football season comes to its close and the only major talking points come on the pitch with teams scrapping it out for league titles, continental places and league survival. But this time as well as that we find ourselves with more and more talking points than ever before.
It started last week with Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho dropping big hints that he could be on his way back to Chelsea this summer, it continued this past weekend with an unbelievable ending to the Championship season and today more big news broke as Aston Villa Captain Stiliyan Petrov announced his retirement from professional football 14 months after the Bulgarian was diagnosed with leukaemia. But despite all of those just mentioned and more, there is one club in particular that has stolen most of the headlines in the last 36 hours.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to depart from the Manchester United managerial hot seat was always going to happen at some point, but when the news broke yesterday morning that this season was finally going to be his last, it still sent shockwaves across the whole world. 26 years in the job, almost 1500 games in charge, 38 honours. Whether you love him or you hate him, you cannot deny that he is one of, if not the most successful manager in the history of the game. I personally would like to thank him for giving me some great football memories in his time at the club. United fans will certainly miss him the most and the question now is who now gets the daunting task of trying to follow in the 71 year olds footsteps.
When the news first broke, two favourites emerged, then within a matter of hours the two favourites became one, and as it stands, David Moyes is in “pole position” to succeed his fellow Scot at Old Trafford next season. Because of the size of the club, whoever is appointed will definitely have the support of many but will still have to win over some that would have preferred a different appointment. If Moyes does get the job, it will surely be seen as a reward for his hard work at Everton and the fact that he has managed to keep his job there for 11 years given that we now live in an age where managers are getting sacked too frequently these days as chairmen seem to lack patience and demand instant success most of the time.

As well as being in charge at Goodison Park for over a decade whilst working off an almost dismal budget every season, Moyes also has 3 LMA Manager of the Year awards, but while that and his long spell at the club definitely go in his favour, people do look out for things such as the fact that he lacks experience in The Champions League, his poor away record against the Premier League’s bigger clubs and that he has failed to bring any Silverware to the Blue half of Merseyside, the closest he came to doing so was the 2009 FA Cup Final defeat to Chelsea. There will always be some negatives because nobody is perfect, but there appear to be many reasons why he has been made the favourite for the job and it will surely only be a short matter of time before a replacement is named.
Whoever is appointed will already have some work to do in preparing a squad for next season as news broke today that Wayne Rooney has decided that he wants to leave the club. The 27 years old future has been a hot topic at times this season and now with the end of the season just over a week away, it has been made public knowledge that two weeks ago Rooney met with Sir Alex Ferguson and told the departing manager that he wanted to move on this summer. This news has been followed up by a club statement saying that the player is not for sale, but with all sorts of changes coming to Old Trafford over the next couple of months, will Wayne Rooney feature in the new manager’s plans for next season?

This story will take an interesting turn if David Moyes is appointed and Rooney’s future is still up in the air. Moyes was of course the person who gave the striker his break at Everton in 2002 and helped him develop over the next couple of years before his £25.6 million move to United in 2004. Six years ago Moyes took Rooney to court over disparaging comments made about him in the England International’s autobiography. It is said that things are better between the pair now but I do get the feeling that while United have said Rooney isn’t for sale, if Moyes joins the club and doesn’t like his work rate and attitude when they return to training after the summer break, he won’t want him at the club. If he feels that Rooney’s presence will have a negative effect on the other players that do want to be there and that it could have the potential to set him up for a bad start at his new club, he will surely look to get Rooney out of there as soon as possible.
The new developments in the last 36 hours have made Manchester a very noisy place, and until Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement is named and Wayne Rooney’s future becomes clearer, it is not going to get any quieter there for the foreseeable future. May has been a jam-packed with surprises so far, and we could well be in for even more before the final ball is kicked later this month.
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