All posts by h79snht.top

Tom Cleverley’s injury against Bolton may not be as serious as first thought, but it is still a blow for both the player and Manchester United, as he’d become an integral part of the team’s success this season.

Cleverley’s ability to link up with Wayne Rooney, Nani and Danny Welbeck has been pivotal to United’s blistering start to the season, and the youngster’s partnership with Anderson looks like being one that could finally erase the Sneijder word from many Reds’ vocabulary.

Although I still feel Cleverley can raise his game a notch and become even more influential that he has been in the past month, there’s no denying he’s been very impressive. United seem to have become the sort of team Arsenal try to be, built around slick passing, quick movement and an almost ‘total football’ style of playing, which has seen the likes of Ashley Young, Nani and Cleverley penetrating from both flanks and the centre.

On Saturday Michael Carrick was brought on to replace Cleverley and performed admirably, doing the sort of job he’s been doing without any fanfare for the past five seasons. Carrick sits a lot deeper than Cleverley and is more concerned with mopping up loose balls and taking the sting out of the opposition attacks, while starting United’s own from deeper, than he is about bombing forward playing ‘give-and-go’ type passes.

I’ve been a Carrick admirer/defender ever since we bought him and actually rated him when he was at Spurs and while seeing him starting in Cleverley’s absence would be far from a disappointment, I cannot help but feel Ji Sung Park would be much better suited in a ‘like for like’ swap.

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Park may not have the same quick thinking in his feet that Cleverley has but he’s no slouch in the passing department, plus he also has a tenacity that could be an inspiration for the young United midfielder.

Without getting carried away with stats, which can be used and abused to prove or disprove almost any point you wish to make, it’s obvious from watching Park, Carrick and Cleverley play which two are the most similar. United’s style this season has been based on energy and movement. Don’t get me wrong, Carrick can still be a part of this type of team, but I think Park would be the more suited to fit straight in.

Park was inspirational at the back end of last season and looked in fine form when he came on against Arsenal. Although with the Champions League starting next week, there’s no doubt going to be some chopping and changing of the starting XI, keeping together the same team that’s dominated the Premier League so far, especially for the upcoming EPL games, would be a step in the right direction.

With the visit of Chelsea and a tricky trip to the Britannia to play Stoke coming up in United’s next two league games, Park for Cleverley could not only help maintain the status quo but also give the South Korean the chance to shine in another ‘big game.’

With Darren Fletcher nearing a first team return, Carrick and Paul Pogba seemingly destined for a chance very soon, Park in for Cleverley in the league makes a lot of sense. The other midfielders can be swapped about for the cup games, whether Sir Alex Ferguson thinks the same remains to be seen.

Article courtesy of Justin Mottershead from Red Flag Flying High

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West Ham supporters have constantly had mixed views on moving away from their long term and historic home in East Ham to a modern, athletics based stadium in Stratford.

It was a disappointing week for the clubs owners David Gold and David Sullivan resulting in the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) ending negotiations with the club over the takeover of the Olympic Stadium due to the ongoing court process with rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

A huge sigh of relief was heard from the Barking Road as supporters and businesses alike thought they could stay put where they belong.

There are a set of West Ham supporters that feel the Stratford move would be beneficial to the club in the long run; whether it be financially or building a larger fan base; but with the club in the Championship, no assumptions should be made at this stage.

The fans have been patient up until now but the new decision may start to strain on the faithful nerves as things go from bad to worse.

Gold and Sullivan have now applied to become tenants of the stadium and so the move is still on the cards for the Hammers, but this time it could be even worse for the fans.

With the running track staying put circling the pitch and the attendance thought to remain at the ambitious 80,000 is it any wonder why the fans are not interested in the move?

Now that the club will only be tenants of the site and not the owners, their hands are tied with any changes they want to make stadium and surrounding area.

Yes, there will more than likely be a pie and mash shop just down the road and a pub painted claret and blue but the owners must have been thinking bigger than this.

The seats will have to remain as they are and not be changed to a wonderful pattern of claret and blue, spelling out the clubs name on the stands.

The exterior of the stadium will also remain as it is, with no over the top inflatable hammers circling the turnstiles and no impressive laser beams hitting the sky for night matches as was once predicted in images on the clubs website.

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At no stage of this comical debacle have the club enquired as to how the real supporters feel about the swap and it is looking more and more like a money making scheme.

The supporters that I have spoken to and I would of thought share a large percentage of the fans views are not looking forward to the move, especially now that the club will not even own the site and so have no say on appearance.

Built for athletics it will be a part time football venue rather than full time that we were promised with the occasional athletics event and sell out gig, which again will not please the fans nor the owners as surely they can’t make Stratford feel like home anymore.

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Tottenham will be looking to close the gap on the top four at Craven Cottage tomorrow. Harry Redknapp will be hoping that Spurs show the same sort of performance they have produced in recent weeks that has produced six wins in the last seven Premier League games.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Spurs blogs that includes a nuisance that is benefitting Tottenham; Harry the heartbeat of the progression, while Levy’s transfer approach may have been flawed.

We also look at the best Spurs articles around the web this week.

The heartbeat of Tottenham’s progression

Harry’s ‘nuisance’ starting to prove anything but for Tottenham

Tottenham to be considered the favourites in the race?

An unfortunate trend in football that shows no sign of dying

Fast becoming The Most Damaging Aspect Of English Football

Has Tottenham Hotspur’s future just got a little brighter?

Simple evidence to highlight why Spurs’ transfer approach may have been flawed

Tottenham hit with £18m fee to throw Harry off the scent

Tottenham weigh up £7m bid for Bhoys ace

Best of WEB

I love Martin Jol, I like Harry Redknapp – Dear Mr Levy

A steppe too far. – Spurs Musings From JimmyG2

Spurs Sign Their ‘Roy Keane’ At Long Last – Harry Hotspur

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Kazan Away – Forget It – Tottenham On My Mind

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Click on image below to see Gigi’s latest lady

Under pressure Bolton boss Owen Coyle will be urging his side to end their torrid run of form with victory over Stoke City at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday.

The beleaguered Trotters boss has seen his side muster only two wins from their ten league games this season and slump to second bottom in the Premier League table. The pressure has slowly started to increase on Coyle after his side failed to replicate the form they showed for much of last season. You could pinpoint the moment of their collapse back to the FA Cup semi-final thrashing they received from this weekends opponents with 13 defeats from the 16 games since the 5-1 defeat on 17 March. Their cause hasn’t been helped by serious injuries to key midfield duo Lee Chung Yong and Stuart Holden with summer signings Chris Eagles and Nigel Re0-Coker struggling to replace them. Goals have also been hard to come by since the departure of Johan Elmanader and Daniel Sturridge’s return to Chelsea with David N’Gog doing his best but to no avail. One of the big disappointments of the current season has been the form of Gary Cahill who has been made to look extremely ordinary on a few occasions this season. Coyle will need to get his confidence built up once again as he hasn’t looked like the domineering centre half he used to be. Defending as a whole has been below par with 27 goals being shipped and the back line looking like a bunch of Sunday League players drafted in for a game. They’ll all need to be focused if they are to win their first home game of the season.

I’d imagine Stoke are the last team the Trotters would want to face with their physical approach and aerial assaults proving effective in a day and age where style and skill is considered to be the only possible way of winning football games. Tony Pulis has built strong foundations at the Britannia Stadium since their Premier League debut in this fixture three years ago. He’ll be disappointed with his sides latest league display after they were knocked down a peg or two by Newcastle on Monday night before making the long trip to and from Tel Aviv to fulfil their Europa League commitments. Tiredness will be a major concern for Pulis going into this game and it’s expected that he will shuffle his pack to keep his squad fresh for the challenges ahead in league and cup. Their usual method of ferociously closing down and getting in their opponents faces is like likely to take a back seat this week with the onus placed on executing their set pieces to perfection. Rory Delap’s long throws remain a constant threat for teams and it’s possible that Peter Crouch and Kenwyne Jones could be deployed up front to get on the end of the touchline missiles. Their record at the Reebok Stadium doesn’t make easy reading though emerging victorious in only two of the last 10 games and they’ll be desperate to get back to winning ways with three points moving them back into the top half of the table.

Key Players

David N’Gog – It’s been a slow start to his career at the Reebok since his move from Liverpool but there have been flashes of genuine class from the Frenchman. An honest and willing runner he will work his socks off up front for the team and in his defence he has been starved of quality service. Will face a big test against an imposing Stoke defence.

Matthew Etherington – Whilst the focus is also placed on the Potters long ball game they actually play more football than they are given credit for. Etherington is a big part of that with his speed and trickery down the left giving Stoke something different when the direct approach proves fruitless.

Prediction: 1-1

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Bolton will be looking for a step towards moving out of relegation trouble with victory over Stoke this weekend. Bolton remain the only team in the Barclays Premier League not to have won a point at home this season. On away form Bolton are 7th this season, which shows the impact that a good run of home form could have on their position in the table. Chris Eagles may be the man to stop that run. The winger has scored just one goal this season, but has had 19 efforts at goal with 14 on target (74%) suggesting that a change in fortune may be coming. Nigel Reo-Coker has slammed his team mates for their start to the season, and the former England under 21 international has been leading by example with 27 tackles won (87% of those attempted) and covering more ground than any other Bolton player in five of their nine games so far Stoke have suffered back to back 3-1 defeats in the Barclays Premier League so far this season

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Yet another striker lighting up the radar of top Premier League clubs is Sporting Lisbon player Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. After netting 9 goals in 13 appearances since putting pen to paper for the Portuguese side in the summer, Van Wolfswinkel has – according to the Metro – attracted admiring glances from Chelsea and United, with AVB being a keen fan and sending scouts to Portugal to see what the player can do ahead of the clash with Benfica.

It is understandable that AVB would look elsewhere in order to shake up his under firing striker force, and at 22, the Dutch man seems to have both the youth and ability to do the job. Yet with the player himself stating that he wishes to stay in Portugal for at least a season, prising him away may be harder than Chelsea or United would like.

Currently rated at around £11 million, Van Wolfswinkel’s agent denies that any firm intrest has been registered and has played down a possible January transfer window move – and after the last striker Chelsea bought in said window, they may well be happy to wait until the summer and see just how good this highly rated young forward is throughout the course of a season.

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Manchester City lost for only the second time this season after Ji Dong-Won came off the bench to earn Sunderland a surprise victory at the Stadium of Light.

With second place Manchester United losing at home to Blackburn on New Years Eve Roberto Mancini’s men had the chance to extend their lead at the top but missed the chance as the Ji beat Joe Hart in the third minute of stoppage time to earn the Black Cats a shock win. Martin O’Neill’s salvage job on Wearside is gathering pace with the home side turning in a gritty display to thwart the champions elect and move six-points clear of the relegation zone. It was the second successive match in which City failed to score as their title challenge took a second monumental hit in the space of a week. Sunderland’s performance was definitely one for lovers of defending with their energy and commitment in all areas of the field showing the effect O’Neill has had at the club.

Nicklas Bendtner almost got them off to a flyer but a poor first touch allowed Hart to smother his shot before full debutant James McClean stung his palms soon after. Boyhood Black Cat’s fan Adam Johnson proved to be a constant threat from his position on the win putting stand in full-backs Craig Gardner and Jack Colback under pressure during the first half. Despite that the home side were defending well and made Manicni’s decision to play Edin Dzeko as a lone striker a foolish one as the Bosnian struggled to impose himself on the game. When he did manage to get the better of the host’s back four he saw his effort clip the bar as City struggled to cope with Sunderland’s work horse midfield. Sergio Aguero and David Silva were brought on after the break as the visitors looked to inject more attacking imputes into their play with the former testing Simon Mignolet just minutes after entering the fray.

Stephane Sessegnon was then inches away from breaking the deadlock skipping away from Vincent Kompany before seeing his fierce strike whistle just past the post. That seemed to wake City up as Silva tested Mignolet twice before Micah Richards hit the bar after heading the ball into the ground. Dzeko also squandered numerous opportunities to score for the away side and their poor finishing was punished by Ji in the dying embers. With the home support beckoning their side to attack the Korean proved to be the coolest person inside the Stadium of Light rounding Hart and knocking the ball into an unguarded net to snatch an unbelievable victory and prolong Sunderland’s renaissance under O’Neill.

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When Tim Howard scored against Bolton a few weeks ago, the American was extremely apologetic for it as he felt sorry for the Trotters keeper Adam Bogdan, as such incidents like this were freakish and not commonplace in the game. The Everton keeper is absolutely right, although he is certainly not the first and won’t be the last to benefit from a stroke of fortune. Who can forget Darren Bent’s beach ball deflected goal for Sunderland against Liverpool, or Jason Cundy’s 50 yard clearance for Tottenham against Ipswich Town all those years ago?

The bizarre nature of Tim Howard’s goal has led me to compile a top ten of the freakiest goals ever to be scored. Whilst many will often cite the Stan Collymore goal that hit a pivot before bouncing over Tim Flowers, or any one of the various goalkeeping blunders that England fans have become accustomed to, I have chosen ten goals (in no particular order) in which the groundsman may not be held responsible, but where the nature of the goal itself is genuinely hard to believe.

Click on Chris Brass to unveil the top 10 freakiest goals in football

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Perhaps one of the most uneventful transfer windows in recent memory. A reflection of the current economic crisis, or simply the approaching Euros in the summer making players think twice about a move? Either way, the spending totals this January of just over £50 million has been dwarfed by last year’s total of £215 million. There was no popcorn-in-hand neutrals watching Manchester City splash their cash, Alex Ferguson didn’t bring in that superstar midfielder the fans have been crying out for, and most importantly of all, Harry Redknapp did not give hourly interviews out of his car window. A disappointment all round, really.

But despite the lack of heavy spending, there were a number of clubs and individuals who caught the eye. Whether it was clubs looking to strengthen following a poor first half to the season, or simply the backing of a new manager from an ambitious owner, there were most definitely talking points. Maybe not enough for Jim White in the Sky Sports News studio to get too excited about, but talking points nonetheless.

Click on Alan Pardew for a  roundup of the 10 biggest winners and losers of this past January

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The return of another cliché but one that is certainly valid. What a difference a week makes. Arsenal’s victory over Tottenham at the weekend was needed more than ever and serves to appease Arsene Wenger’s judgement in the media that his Gunners side remain ‘alive’ amidst questions of their long-term staying power over the course of a campaign.

Rose tinted spectacles are all the range again for the red half of North London as bragging rights were secured on Sunday; Harry Redknapp admitted Spurs might be looking over their shoulder, Lukas Podolski reportedly ‘agreed’ a move to the club and Robin Van Persie came through unscathed against England at Wembley.

All hunky dory, no? As we all know, a week is a long time in football, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that with a win, breeds new confidence, not only in the fan base but in the squad of personnel and managerial team itself. We examine, was it ever as bad as first feared at Arsenal in recent months? Are things not that bad after all?

Indeed, Arsenal always appear to be that one game away from oblivion. At 2-0 down to Tottenham and indeed to arch-nemesis Emmanuel Adebayor in particularly, all Gunners fans wondered just when their nightmare was exactly going to end. Thankfully for all connected on Sunday, their players dug deep and produced one of the most stunning comebacks in recent Premier League history.

What was most frustrating for the watching football world was that the performance echoed the Gunners of old with slick passing, deadly accuracy in the finishing and swift link up play between the midfield and forward ranks. Something, which has been far too rare this season, failing the one-man exploits of one Dutch striker. It led everyone to question, just why can’t Arsenal produce such a performance on a regular basis and when it mattered in the recent games with Milan and Sunderland.

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It was almost the fact that Arsenal daren’t lose to their biggest rivals but it was okay to go through the motions against previous opposition. Whilst we would be foolish to surmise players don’t go out and give their all in every game (do they?), Arsenal reminded us all that they aren’t quite ‘has been’s’ just yet and haven’t subscribed to the countless editorials and cuttings writing them off for good.

But to look through the eyes of an optimist, following the announcement of a £49.5 million profit recently, Arsenal have indeed navigated the recent months with some relative success.

Still well in the hunt for fourth place and Champions League qualification next term and likely to be without the prospect of balancing two games a week, the Gunners possess a more realistic shot than their rivals at going all out to secure a European berth for the remainder of the campaign.

But in reality, Arsenal personify the most frustrating of teams to support as whilst responsible ownership and careful strategic guidance represent stability at the club in the eyes of a businessman, the clubs former on-field glories mean the club and its expectant supporters will always maintain their stance that winning trophies must be paramount in terms of what can be deemed true success.

Whilst a number of Arsenal fans may be content with finishing fourth this season under a squad described by some as the worst during Wenger’s tenure, the majority of Arsenal fans see the excruciating defeats to Milan and Sunderland as the root to the clubs underachievement, in that the club still isn’t mature and mentally strong enough to deliver consistently when it matters.

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But with reports this week claiming Lukas Podolski could be the first big name to arrive in North London this summer, Arsenal fans are enjoying one of the more happier, if not happiest seven-day periods of the season thus far. Gunners fans will just hope that the possible arrival of the prolific German striker isn’t a direct replacement for Van Persie who himself is still willing to listen to the clubs latest contract offer.

But what is sure is that Arsenal have turned a corner in terms of belief. They can produce the much-celebrated football that they have been capable of for a number of years and can give us some reason to justify that things aren’t as bad at the club after all.

Would Arsenal fans be naïve to think they have turned the corner just yet or is there some hope for the remainder of the season? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

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Fulham’s Moussa Dembele has emerged as a potential transfer target for a growing number of high-profile Premier League clubs. Tottenham had been strongly linked with a move in January but it appears that they now face strong competition from both Arsenal and Liverpool, according to talkSPORT.

Dembele has excelled in his new role as an attacking midfielder this season and with this contract set to expire next year, speculation has begun to intensify surrounding his future in southwest London.

Fulham are hoping a £15m price tag will scare off potential suitors this summer for a player who maintains he is content at Craven Cottage for the time being, although has expressed an interest to play at a higher level in the future.

Dembele told The People: “I’m not concerned about losing time here, but it’s clear that I’d like to play at a higher level.”

The 24-year-old has acquired many admirers since his move from AZ Alkmaar in 2010 and his current manager Martin Jol is adamant he can play at the very top,

“In a few months, maybe a year, he will be like Rafa van der Vaart, Dembele will learn and go on to become one of the best players in the Premier League.”

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Moussa Dembele has scored 6 goals in 53 games since his move from Holland in the summer 2010.

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