Barcelona – Champions of Europe May 29, 2009
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 season, Barcelona, Champions League, Iniesta, Manchester United, Messi, Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez.1 comment so far
Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the finals of Champions League in Rome…Iniesta masterminded the midfiled with excellent support from Xavi and played rings around the United players. Messi played in the centre of attack flanked by Henry on the left and Eto on the right.
Messi was tackled by two players everytime he got the ball and this strategy seemed to be working for sometime till Eto scored the goal. After that it was Barca all over the football field. In the end it was justice to Barca for a wonderful season, where they dominated Spain and Europe with their attacking brand of football.
Messi boots out Utd with a rare header
The “peppy” Guardiola
The Champions of Europe
The grand welcome back in Barcelona
Manchester United vs Arsenal: Stats before the match May 15, 2009
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 season, Arsenal, Manchester United, Opta Stats.add a comment
Some pre-match stats from Opta
Manchester United have won their last seven league games, scoring at least twice in each match.
The last 15 Premier League games between United and Arsenal have seen five wins each and five draws.
Arsenal have never scored more than one goal in a Premier League game at Old Trafford.
The Gunners have scored a total of only seven goals in 16 Premier League matches at the Theatre of Dreams.
United have scored either no goals or two goals in their last seven Premier League home games against Arsenal.
Arsenal have conceded eight goals in their last two league games against Big Four sides.
Manchester United have won only one of their five games against Big Four rivals this season.
Nicklas Bendtner has scored three goals in Arsenal’s last two league games.
Andrey Arshavin has six goals and seven assists for Arsenal in 12 starts for the club (all comps).
Wayne Rooney has scored five goals against Arsenal, only against four clubs has he been more prolific.
Only in two previous Premier League seasons have Arsenal conceded more goals after 36 games than this campaign. (1994-95 & 2002-03).
The last stat tells us pretty much about why we are where we are…Hopefully a victory or a draw should be commendable.
Arsenal vs Manchester United preview November 7, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Bendtner, EPL, Manchester United.1 comment so far
As Manchester United visit Emirates Stadium, the team sheets and confidence levels of both teams can never be so contrasting. Manchester United have more or less a full strength squad to choose from and coming on the back of a victory over Hull City in the premier league (nevertheless a fighting comeback from the opposition) and a draw against Celtics away from home in the Champions League, they will be primed to give the Gunners one more blow to their Premier league hopes. Arsenal on the other hand face a host of injury problems and the draw against Fenerbache will not be encouraging coming on the back of a Stoke City defeat.
On the injury front, all parts of the field except the central midfield looks rosy for Arsenal. Starting from the back, Sagna’s injury means that Toure would play on that role on Saturday. Gallas and Silvestre are both injured and Wenger will take a call on matchday to keep one of them and maybe start with Djourou, who is a good bet to start. I hope he does that because Djorou would be capable of handling the aerial balls better than any of the other central defenders that we have. Clichy is fit and hence that position will be secure.
Coming to the midfield, injuries to both Walcott and Eboue means he will have to again look at Denilson/Diaby/Ramsey in that order to start on the right of midfield. I would prefer him to start with Ramsey but it might be too much for the youngster to start on a unfamiliar role in a high tempo match like this. Central midfield has been the debating point for the last few weeks now. I would like to see how Fabregas and Ramsey can play together in that role and if we can mould Ramsey into a defensive midfield role. Alex Song will also be in the picture when it comes to this match. Nasri retains his position on the left side of midfield, though he was very patchy in the last couple of matches.
Forwards are short in the current team and the only available two forwards are Bendtner and Vela and it looks like we will start with both or if Wenger goes for a 5 midfield we might start only with Bendtner. I would like to see Wilshere also coming through in this position, but maybe in the next match as Van Persie will and Adebayor might miss 2 more matches. But this is one of those moments in a footballer’s career where destiny is giving them a chance to prove a point to the coach and supporters and if Bendtner can make use of this opportunity he will endear himself to the entire Gooner community.
The team is definetely going through a bad patch and this is when they require us to support them and encourage them, whatever be the result. Lets hope Wenger does some magic with this set of players and we do not go down that soon this season.
Berba to Utd, Binho to ManC and none to Ashburton Grove September 2, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Arsenal, Berbatov, Chelsea, EPL, Liverpool, Manchester United, Robinho, Transfer, tranfer deals.2 comments
In a midnight of pounds and faxes, transfer deadlines were met and unmet with a host of transfer deals across Europe and England as some of the top Premier league clubs made last minute additions to their squad. Of the notable ones were the long pending transfer of Berbatov to United. It seems the new super rick Sheikhs of Man City wanted to hijack the bid but Berbatov stood firm to commit himself to Man Utd.
But the most interesting bit of transfer happened in the Blue Half of Manchester as City swooped on Chelsea target Robinho from Real. Now that was something that must have irked off Abrahmovic…and I like that 
Here are the list of transfer dealings from the top 4 clubs of EPL…courtesy Telegraph UK
Deadline Day deals:
| Player | From | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Pavlyuchenko | Spartak Moscow | Tottenham | £14m |
| Vedran Corluka | Manchester City | Tottenham | £8.5m |
| Jonas Olsson | NEC Nijmegan | WBA | £800,000 rising to £1.6m |
| Omar Garcia | Athletic Bilbao | Rotherham | Free |
| Vitor Flora | Botafogo | Liverpool | Free |
| Ryan Gallagher | Blackburn | Plymouth | Season Loan |
| Ryan Donk | AZ Alkmaar | WBA | Season Loan |
| Kamil Zayatte | Young Boys Berne | Hull | Season Loan |
| Blerim Dzemaili | Bolton | Torino | Season Loan |
| Nadim Belhadj | Lens | Portsmouth | Season Loan |
| Ignacio Gonzalez | Valencia | Newcastle | Season Loan |
| Mark Bunn | Northampton | Blackburn Rovers | Undisclosed |
| Louis Saha | Manchester United | Everton | Undisclosed |
| Steve Finnan | Liverpool | Espanyol | Undisclosed |
| Peter Guloisi | MTK Hungaria | Liverpool | Undisclosed |
| Sean Evans | Manchester United | Aberystwyth | Free |
| Collins John | Fulham | Nijmegen | Free |
| Rachid Bouaouzan | Wigan | Nijmegen | Season loan |
| Andriy Voronin | Liverpool | Hertha Berlin | Season loan |
| Jonathan Grounds | Middlesbrough | Norwich City | Three-month loan |
| Jean-Francois Christophe | Portsmouth | Southend United | One-month loan |
| Gabriel Zakuani | Fulham | Peterborough | One-month loan |
| Javan Vidal | Manchester City | Grimsby | One-month loan |
| Danny Higginbotham | Sunderland | Stoke City | Undisclosed |
| Carlo Nash | Everton | Wigan Athletic | Undisclosed |
| Daniel Cousin | Hull City | Rangers | £4m |
| Antonie Sibierski | Norwich City | Wigan Athletic | 5 month loan |
| Martin Cranie | Charlton Athletic | Portsmouth | Season loan |
| Xisco | Newcastle United | Deportivo La Coruna | £8.2m |
| Dimitar Berbatov | Manchester United | Tottenham Hotspur | £30.75m |
| Fraizer Campbell | Tottenham Hotspur | Manchester United | Season loan |
| Michael Tonge | Stoke City | Sheffield United | £1.5m |
| Tom Soares | Stoke City | Crystal Palace | £1.5m |
| Julian Gray | Fulham | Coventry City | Season loan |
The top 4 clubs’ tranfer activities this year -
Arsenal
IN
Samir Nasri Marseille £12.8m
Aaron Ramsey Cardiff £5m
Mikael Silvestre Manchester U £750,000
Amaury Bischoff Werder Bremen Undisclosed
Francis Coquelin Stade Lavallois Free
OUT
Alexander Hleb Barcelona £11.8m rising to £13.5m
Justin Hoyte Middlesbrough £3m
Gilberto Silva Panathinaikos £1m
Mathieu Flamini AC Milan Free
Jens Lehmann Stuttgart Free
Kerrea Gilbert Leicester Season Loan
Havard Nordtveit Salamanca Season Loan
Nacer Barazite Derby 5 Month Loan
Armand Traore Portsmouth Season Loan
Chelsea
IN
Jose Bosingwa Porto £16.2m
Deco Barcelona £7.9m
Fabio Paim Sporting Lisbon Season Loan
OUT
Steve Sidwell Aston Villa £5m
Khalid Boulahrouz Stuttgart £4m
Tal Ben Haim Manchester C £3m
Claude Makelele Paris St-Germain Free
Harry Worley Leicester Free
Anthony Grant Southend Free
Andriy Shevchenko AC Milan Undisclosed
Ryan Bertrand Norwich Season Loan
Shaun Cummings MK Dons 1 Month Loan
Slobodan Rajkovic FC Twente Season Loan
Ben Sahar Portsmouth Season Loan
Michael Modubi Westerloo Season Loan
Jeffrey Ntuka Westerloo Season Loan
Emmanuel Sarki Westerloo Season Loan
Jimmy Smith Sheffield Wed Season Loan
Hernan Crespo Inter Milan Season Loan
Claudio Pizarro Werder Bremen Season Loan
Lee Sawyer Southend 3 Month Loan
Jack Cork Southampton 6 Month Loan
Adrian Pettigrew Released
James Simmonds Released
Phil Younghusband Released
Liverpool
IN
Albert Riera Espanyol Undisclosed
Peter Gulacsi MTK Hungaria Undisclosed
Vito Flora Botafogo Free
Robbie Keane Tottenham £19m rising to £20.3m
Andrea Dossena Udinese £7m
Diego Cavalieri Palmeiras £3m
David Ngog Paris St-Germain £1.5m
Nikola Saric Herfolge £600,000
Vincent Weijl AZ Alkmaar Nominal
Christopher Buchtmann Borussia Dortmund Undisclosed
Philipp Degen Borussia Dortmund Free
Emmanuel Mendy Murcia Deportivo Free
Zsolt Poloskei MTK Hungaria Season Loan
OUT
Steve Finnan Espanyol Undisclosed
Andriy Voronin Hertha Berlin Season loan
John Arne Riise Roma £4m
Scott Carson WBA £3.25m
Peter Crouch Portsmouth £9m rising to £11m
Danny Guthrie Newcastle £2.5m
Anthony Le Tallec Le Mans £1.1m
Charlie Barnett Tranmere Free
Besian Idrizaj Wacker Innsbruck Free
Harry Kewell Galatasaray Free
Godwin Antwi Tranmere 6 Month Loan
Adam Hammill Blackpool 6 Month Loan
Jack Hobbs Leicester Season Loan
Robbie Threlfall Hereford Season Loan
David Martin Leicester6 Month Loan
Sebastien Leto Olympiakos 2 Year Loan
Craig Lindfield Bournemouth 4 Month Loan
Manchester United
IN
Dimitar Berbatov Tottenham £30.75m
Davide Petrucci Roma £200,000
OUT
Dong Fangzhou Released
Gerard Pique Barcelona £4m
Chris Eagles Burnley £1.2m
Mikael Silvestre Arsenal £750,000
Richie Jones Hartlepool Free
Michael Lea Scunthorpe Free
Kieron Lee Oldham Free
Conor McCormack Triestina Free
Scott McManus Crewe Free
David Williams Oldham Free
Tom Heaton Cardiff Season Loan
Ferbin Brandy Swansea 6 Month Loan extension
Danny Simpson Blackburn Season Loan
Fraizer Campbell Tottenham Season loan
Lee Martin Nottm Fst Season Loan
Craig Cathcart Plymouth 6 Month Loan
Michael Barnes Released
Sean Evans Aberystwyth Released Free
Chris Fagan Released
Season 2008-09: Contenders – I August 12, 2008
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 season, Champions League, Chelsea, EPL, Europe, Manchester United.add a comment
Manchester United
With both the domestic and the European titles under their belt, they would be brimming with confidence this time around. They would ideally be looking at retaining both the titles and in doing so become eligible to be the best United team ever. Ferguson has managed to retain his talismanic winger Ronaldo for one more season and has not made any notable buys so far. He is short of one striker and is eyeing the Spurs spearhead Berbatov who Ramos is reluctant to sell as he has already lost Keane.
The community shield was won in the penalty and it once again showed the fighting skills of Tevez and the youth and exuberance of Nani in the absence of Ronaldo and Rooney. But are they good enough to win the league this time also? Needs to be seen, as I can see them challenging the others only if they buy one more striker. This could be the last season for Van Der Saar, Giggs, Scholes and Gary Neville in this team. Queiroz has already left for Portugal and it is quite odd to see Alex Ferguson without his partner in coaching.
With Ronaldo and Rooney missing the beginning of the season I think United will lose their momentum initially though they will come back strongly. But how will Ronaldo play after his operation, will their new striker(if they buy anyone) fit in well with the team, can the Defenders put in one more stellar season? A lot of questions but I think they will not prosper as they did last year.
Prediction: Finish 3rd in the league
Chelsea
A new coach, old players and couple of good additions, Chelsea just look bigger and better this season. Having got Scolari as the coach who admitted openly that his only motivation was money, Chelsea did the best they could in getting a good coach. The other important thing they did was retain the services (so far) of Frank Lampard, their star player. With Drogba now looking at seeing out his contract and Ballack in some good European form this team will be pushing all limits this time around.
Deco was a wonderful signing and I wonder where he would fit in as the Chelsea midfield looks packed with talent. They have to make sure Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Deco, Joe Cole all get to play now. Scolari’s man management skill will be tested and if his past experience in handling the Brazilian national side is anything to go by then he definitely will. He is still pursuing Robinho and wonder if that is required at all.
Last year they know how close they came to winning the league as well as the Champion’s league. People like Ballack and Deco have shown their class in the just concluded Euros and would like to give it one more shot and honestly I think this year’s Chelsea team has got a better cutting edge than the previous season’s. They can maintain the winning momentum for 38 games and now they have coach who will provide the spark.
Prediction: English Premier League Champions
Transfer news and new kit July 3, 2008
Posted by freekicker in 2008-09 Squad numbers, 2008-09 season, Aaron Ramsey, Adebayor, Alex Ferguson, Arsenal, Arsenal Away Jersey, Arsenal Home Jersey, Arsene Wenger, Arshavin, Berbatov, Carlos Vela, Chelsea, David Villa, Deco, Drogba, EPL, Gareth Barry, Liverpool, Manchester United, Robinho, Ronaldo, Samir Nasri, Scolari, Theo, Walcott.3 comments
With the Euros over,time for some transfer news.
Manchester United – Ferguson has come out in the open and has said that he is looking for only one signing this season to strengthen his team. The position has not been specified but I presume it should be in the forward line given the injury prone Louis Saha might leave or get injured again. Lets not talk about Ronaldo and his impending transfer to Real Madrid. I feel United should just cash in as much as they can over him and pay off their debts. Will they go for Berbatov needs to be seen.
Chelsea – With Scolari coming in at Stamford Bridge,the playin style of the club is sure to change. And on his first day in office, he got Deco on board, something that Jose Mourinho could not do. Now this latest addition to the midfield means Lampard and Ballack are going to have competition for the second place. Does that mean Lampard will leave the club, again a debating point. Scolari is also strongly rumoured to get Robinho from Real as well. Now that should be interesting. Will Drogba be their come the start of the season, remains to be seen. Arshavin is the latest one who is tipped to be heading to Stamford Bridge this season.
Liverpool – Rafa is not good at buying players and to make it worse his hands are tied this time around with the transfer funds. The Gareth Barry tussle with Aston Villa is really sad, infact it is worse than the continuing Ronaldo saga. Barry has been asked to train on his own and Martin O’Neil has made it clear to Liverpool that they should pay 18 million if they want to see Barry in a red jersey next season. Fair enough. Do they have the money to buy David Villa??? No I do not think so.
Arsenal – Nasri is in. I hope he plays better than his Euro performance in an Arsenal jersey. Hleb stories have become silent and Adebayor stories on the rise in the last few weeks. Ade’s salary demands if it is true is showing him in a poor light. It is strange how one good season can make a player think so highly about himself. If he had made this demand at the end of next season after scoring 20 goals, it would have looked better.
The official jerseys are on sale from today. Here is the home jersey
And here is the rumoured to be away jersey
Also the 2008-09 Arsenal first team squad numbers have been finalised few weeks back. Notable ones;
12 Carlos Vela
14 Theo Walcott – ya he gets Henry’s number. Now only if he could play like him
Manchester United Triumph May 22, 2008
Posted by freekicker in Alex Ferguson, Ballack, Cech, Champions League, Chelsea, Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba, Essien, Europe, John Terry, Lampard, Manchester United, Moscow, Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Van Der Sar, Vidic.add a comment
An European night to remember for the millions of Manchester United fans around the world as they beat Chelsea in an evenly contested final of the Champions League in Moscow. It had all the drama and thrills of a epic final which lived upto its reputation. There were tragic memories, bruised noses, red card to Drogba, Sudden death, Penalty miss by Ronaldo, a foot slip by Terry on a crucial penalty, all happening at around 1 AM local time on a rainy nite in Moscow. It was a fitting fnale, watched by record viewers around the world and a great climax played by probably two of the strongest teams in Europe.
Ferguson chose to go ahead with a 4-4-2 formation which meant that he was not sitting back and was all set to attack with Tevez and Rooney upfront. It was a good 25 minutes for Man Utd as they hardpressed and eventually got a goal, a brillaint header from Ronaldo. Essien was playing out of position at right back and was no match for the skills of Ronaldo. There was a double save from the brillaint Cech in between all this as Chelsea slowly came back into the game. But Ronaldo’s defensive vulnerability meant Essien got forward, blasted a shot which deflected off Vidic and Rio to fall nicely to Lampard, who did not have much trouble slotting it home. 1-1 at the end of first half. This was definetely what the neutral fans had wished for, an exciting match and not a cagey affair.
Second half saw attacking football from both teams as Chelsea seemed to be on the rise with both Drogba and Lampard hitting the post. Ryan Giggs made his record breaking appearance for Man Utd and almost scored the winner if not for a superb interception from John Terry. Drogba had a poor match by his standard and was sent off towards the end of the extra time for slapping Vidic, who did a very commendable job controlling the Ivorian. It was a stupid thing to slap a player which these days is a straight red card. His long walk back seemed like a certain exit from Chelsea and probably we have seen the last of him in a Chelsea jersey.
If we thought Penalty shootout was boring, you should watch this again. What an incident filled shootout. Drogba’s exit meant a certain penalty taker missing out. So it was all going ok until Ronaldo came to take it. I am sure a lot of us felt that, this was not going to be as simple for him as it normally is. He stuttered and hit a poor shit which Cech had no issue in saving. So in the end it was left for John Terry to score and take Chelsea to their first Champions League triumph. But it was not there in the plan. Rain had made the pitch quite slippery and Terry slipped on his landing foot and the penalty was wide off target. So it was again back to square one. With Anelka’s shot being saved by Van Der Saar, the team in red, completed their double for the season.
In the end it was a bit of luck that ran with Manchester United as I thought the teams were very evenly matched come the penalties. So Ferguson gets his hand on a second Champions League triumph and will look to build from here for an assault both at domestic front as well as Europe. It was sad to see players like Terry, Cech, Lampard and Ballack at the losing side after playing better football than Manchester United in Europe towards the end. But glory to Manchester United was written on the stars last night and it was a wonderful final for the neutral fan.
