Teams
Thu, August 2nd 2007
When asked if he [Van Persie] would be prepared to revert from attractive football to play for a side who won 1-0 every week and earned more trophies, Van Persie replied: “Small chance. The way I see it, I would never give that up. There are only a few teams in Europe who play the way Arsenal play. I will always play for a team where I earn less money but play fantastic football rather than a team where you can earn lots of money and win every week…
“I don’t like to run after people all game long; I like that they run after me.”
Without meaning to slander a whole nation, there’s something very Dutch about that statement. Style counting more than substance.
It’s one thing to say he is prepared to be paid less money to play in the style he wants, but when the amount of money he is earning is so much greater than the fans that are paying his wages who are wanting to win trophies, it sticks in the throat a bit.
From: The Guardian
Fri, July 27th 2007
[Alex Ferguson] admitted that he has no intention of ending his interest in a player he believes will be a crucial addition to his squad.
Ferguson said: “I would imagine that we can all get things done before the deadline, but we would wait for Tevez anyway if we have to. We’ve gone so far now, there’s no point stepping back.
Perhaps, if Ferguson had not fielded a weakened team against West Ham on the final day of last season, he could have relegated the Hammers rather than Sheffield Utd, presumably invoking a release clause in Tevez’s contract.
From: Man United to tough it out for Carlos Tevez - Telegraph
Tue, December 5th 2006
Paul Ince’s Macclesfield won their first game of the season with a 1-nil victory at home to Rochdale. McNeil’s goal early in the second half saw the Silkmen get the win after 19 unsuccessful attempts despite playing much of the game with 10 men.
Roll on Chelsea.
Mon, December 4th 2006
Portuguese star not guilty of diving shock
Christiano Ronaldo’s penalty winning tumble in the Middlesborough box provoked the usual allegations of the Portuguese player’s inclination to dive. Maybe, this time, we should forgive him. Just this time, mind…
Tue, November 7th 2006
Last week, Arsene Wenger was promoting the use of video evidence. This week he might not be so sure:
The Football Association has, meanwhile, asked for video evidence of their [Wenger and Pardew’s] altercation and several other incidents that followed West Ham’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.
From: The Guardian
Tue, October 31st 2006
Barcelona 2 - Chelsea 2
After Didier Drogba’s injury time equaliser you could be forgiven for thinking Mourinho’s Chelsea had beaten Barcelona, such was the the psychological blow that the Spanish club’s players seemed to receive.
Tue, October 24th 2006
You can only wonder what the reaction to this would have been if the foreigner had done this to the England international, and not vice-versa.
West Ham’s Javier Mascherano believes Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe should have been sent off for appearing to bite the midfielder in Sunday’s match.
From: BBC
Any chance of action by the FA is slight because the referee dealt with the incident at the time, deeming it a bookable offence. FIFA does not permit further action unless the referee has not seen it.
Tue, September 19th 2006
31 year old United star likely to turn down pivotal role
Owen Hargreaves’ broken leg has prompted the England management team to try and tempt Paul Scholes out of his international retirement.
Fri, September 15th 2006
Last season’s top 4 teams meet each other this Sunday, as Chelsea face Liverpool and Man Utd play Arsenal.
After a summer of World Cup football, and the football season’s first month being broken up by international games, the English Premiership has so far failed to fire…
When Englishman Justin Hoyte came on as sub in Arsenal’s Champions League game against Hamburg, every player came from a different country.
Jens Lehmann (Germany); Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Johan Djourou (Switzerland), Justin Hoyte (England), William Gallas (France) Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic), Gilberto (Brazil), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Alexander Hleb (Belarus) Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Robin van Persie (Holland).
While striking in its self, its more surprising that the only English player has join from the bench, and that none of the other players were even British. English teams have for a long time had a huge variety of cultures, but has been rare that some of the team has not come from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.