Arsenal Serious Title Contenders This Season?

The Gunners Celebrate the Equaliser Against Man City

Laurent Koschiely reels off in delight after scoring the equalising goal

Many have quoted that Arsenal are going to be a massive title contenders this season provided they keep up their impressive start to the season with outstanding performances in the first few matches. Arsenal have been more like a selling club in the past few seasons rather than a buying club. Last season, they've lost the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively. To add on more to their misery, they offloaded Robin Van Persie to Manchester United this season. Every single person piled pressure on the Gunners saying that it's gonna be a hell ride this season for them as they've lost too many of their superstar players, but the Gunners proved the critics wrong early at the start of the season with impressive start. After losing the likes of Robin Van Persie and Alex Song respectively to Manchester United and Barcelona, Arsene Wenger made some decent signings during the transfer window, bringing in the likes of Santi Cazorla, Giroud, and Lukas Podolski. These three players so far have proven to be impactful for Gunners as they've well settled down in the squad and also the English game. Santi Cazorla has been branded as the new ''Fabregas'' by Arsene Wenger due to the speed, the consistent passes and the accurate shots that the player takes on in matches. The very last time that Arsenal won a silverware was back in 2005, FA Cup final against Manchester United. The top guns back then was simply irresistible with the likes of Thiery Heny, Bergkamp, Viera, Pires and so on. The current Gunners are filled with talented growing youngsters that has bright future ahead. They have definitely proven that they can be a threat in the Premier League this season and also serious title contenders. During the weekend, they've performed extremely well against the defending champions, Man City eventhough only being held for a 1-1 draw at the end, but the Gunner once again proved to be a great threat. 

Jenkinson vies with Sinclair of During the Premier League match at the Etihad

Sunday Blockbusters ( 23rd September 2012) Clash of the Giants

Steven Gerrard Looks On Dejectedly after Losing to Man United

Luis Suarez Makes Peace With Patrice Evra

It was a weekend filled with two thrilling and mind-blowing Barclays Premier Matches as we saw Liverpool square up with the on fire Red Devils, Manchester United and on the other hand, Manchester City squaring off with Arsenal. the early lunctime kick off at Anfield highlighted a controversy row between Luis suarez and Patrice Evra as the racial issue among those two had to be put aside and ordered to make peace by shaking each other's hands before the match kicked off. A moment of silence was in place as to mark the hillsborough incident as a sign of respect. Liverpool, who have had a bad start to the season, failing to win their first 4 games, and only drawing two and losing the remaining three games. it happens to be the worst start ever of the club to the premier league season. stakes were high in this match as Liverpool kept their expectations high of coming out of the game with an impressive victory but things turn out to be sour at the Anfield ground as they unfortunately lost the game, 1-2. The Reds were impressive as they held strongly towards the possession but after losing Jonjo Shelvey through a red card that should never have been given, the Reds lost the momentum of the game. Liverpool started the second half brightly and they proved to be great fighters eventhough playing with 10-men as they broke the deadlock through a well taken goal by their one and only captain, Steven Gerrard. It was like looking at the old Stevie G, full of power, full of determination and he proves to still be the best Midfielder in the World. It was a great goal as he was so much under pressure inside the box surrounding with tons of Man United players looming around the box, but still he manages to pull out a superb volley right to the bottom left corner. Unfortunately, Liverpool's lead only lasted like 5 minutes as Rafael curled in an absolute beauty to the top right hand corner giving Reina no chance at all to reach out and save the shot. It was a typical brazillian born player goal, as it was a magnificent goal by the youngster. Manchester United kept pressing on the accelerator as they attacking looking for the winner with the wounded Liverpool looking handicapped with only 10-men on the field. 10 minutes left to play, and with Valencia running throught the right flanks, he broke through the defence easily leaving Johnson only to stop him, in which it led to a penalty which never have been awarded. Johnson barely even touched Valencia but the angle proved to be against referee, Howard Webb, and he awarded it without clear insight look of the foul committed. Robin Van Persie steps up and scores from the spotkick, almost allowing Reina to make an outstanding stop as he went the right way as well, but the power of the shot was just enough to hit the back of the net with Reina only to put his fingertips. Turned out to be another dissapointing day for the Reds as they failed to deliver Brendan Rogers his first victory in the Premier League. If any player were to be truly dissapointed in the Liverpool jersey, it will definitely be Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool skipper worked his ass off like an animal trying to get the win against Man United but seemingly failed again. I suppose it's been a trend that the camera's would always do a ''close up'' zoom at Steven Gerrard whenever Liverpool loses the match as to show how dejected the Liverpool skipper is. LOL. Regardless win or lose, camera's are still zoomed at him. Long Live Stevie G!!!... The next big clash was between the Eastlands and the Gunners. Arsenal started the game well as they were looking more like a team posing the deeper threat to score the first goal. With the likes of Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud, Arteta and Gervinho, it looks like a rejuvenated Arsenal team. Since losing RVP and Alex Song to Man United and Barcelona respectively, many predicted hell awaits Arsenal as they lack striking force and poor midfield power. Arsene Wenger proved the critics wrong as he made a several impressive signings in the transfer window, with the likes of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla coming in the squad and have settled down well with the flow of the English game which is impressive. Arsenal played impressively in the first half, silencing the likes of Aguero, Silva, Toure at the other end but surrendered the lead to Man City in the 39th minute with a well headed goal by the England Centre-back Joleon Lescott.  Second half started and both teams were even in possession as both teams created decent chances but the finishing were quite poor. Gervinho could have levelled things up for Arsenal a several times, but failing to deliver with poor finishing. On the 82nd minute, Koschiely levelled the score for the gunners with a well taken volley inside the penalty box. That goal came after a clearance error by Lescott which eventually fell to Koschiely to slot it at the back of the net as he drilled it past Joe Hart. Gervinho then had another chance begging for him to win for Arsenal right at the end but once again, the finishing was absolutely poor by the player. Vincent Kompany at the other could have won it for the home side with an absolute thunderous volley only to see his shot well saved by the Arsenal reserve keeper. Aguero could have sealed it for City when koschiely made a total blunder when his clearance only fell to Aguero, which just went past the keeper with a whisker wide. Overall, it's been a thrilling weekend !!!....

Koschiely Celebrates after scoring the equaliser. right (Cazorla)

Arsenal Also The Great Comeback Kings Of All Time UCL

 It's been almost the invincible Arsenal squad that we all used to know during their best of best seasons back in 2002/2003, where they fought back a dramatic 5-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur 2 weeks ago, and then came from behind again to win Liverpool at Anfield with a 1-2 scoreline. After the heroic weekends, Arsenal had to face a resurgent  AC Milan side at Emirates, 2nd leg tie of the last 16 Champions League knockout stages. It was a game that Arsenal had to put their full potential side to ensure a big win as to cancel out Milan's impressive 4-0 win at the first leg at San Siro. They were a whisker close of accomplishing that, but unfortunately, a 3-0 home win for the gunners at the Emirates just not good enough to cancel out the big margin of goals that Milan piled on them. Arsenal were totally outplayed in the first leg at San Siro, and it was the last game of the legendary Thiery Henry. His departure ended in agony as Arsenal were crashed 4-0 by Milan and they proved Milan that they are a side capable of winning any cups in European level with almost a great comeback, but just lacking with a goal difference. Milan progressed to the last-16 with a 4-3 aggregate win, and their striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, said in an interview ''Arsenal almost caught us and could have snatched a great win if they had taken the chance that Van Persie had in the second half, and we were very lucky to come out as winners overall at the end of the day''. Arsene Wenger praised his young Gunners and said that they deserve to be in the Champions League last-16 with the performance that they put on with Milan in the second leg at Emirates. Arsenal were looking more like the top favorites to qualify to the last-16, when they already took a 3-0 lead in the first half itself, but Milan somehow recovered well at the back realizing that they allowed free flow football for Arsenal in the first half. Arsenal are a team you need to watchout, especially during counter-attacks, where they can be promising and they will deliver beauties and that's what happened during the AC Milan's game. The scorers that night were Koschiely, sorry if it's spelled wrongly, then we have Rosicky and Van Persie adding the tally to the goals. Van Persie's penalty, a penalty that we hardly see from any players these days, as it was such a pile driver with great amount of power in it and it's definitely unsaveable by any keeper at all.

Back To Back Wins For The Mighty Reds !!

                 











It's been a stunning week for Liverpool as they emerged victorious in back to back Cup games, as the first victory coming against Manchester City in the second-leg League Cup tie at Anfield. Liverpool who, edged City in the first-leg at the Etihad stadium with a 0-1 victory, drew 2-2 at Anfield in the second-leg and as aggregate says so with 3-2, Liverpool walk into the League Cup final squaring themselves with Cardiff City. Steven Gerrard scored the only crucial goal against City in the first-leg, a penalty that was awarded in the 12th minute of the game and they had to hang on till the final whistle. Travelling back to Anfield for the second-leg tie at Anfield, goals by Gerrard (again from the penalty spot) and Craig Bellamy was enough to cancel out goals by Dzeko and De-Jong to reach the final. Eventhough, City only escaped with near call scoreline, but then full credits should be given to the Reds as they dominated well in both ties and indeed deserved to win with bigger margin of goals. Kenny Dalglish was very proud with his team's performance in both legs against City and pointed out by saying that, Liverpool deserve at least to win a trophy this season for the countless efforts and tireless hard work that they've been displaying this season regardless of some losses that they suffered due to poor form. With Steven Gerrard back to full fitness of late, Liverpool can move on well from now and fight for the fourth spot in the table to guarantee a place in the Champions League                                       next season. 3-4 days after the triumph over Manchester City, Liverpool then had to square off with their fiercest of rivals, Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round tie at Anfield. With the players already looming tiredly after their awesome triumph over City in the League Cup, but with home advantage on their side, Liverpool once again emerged victorious impressively with a 2-1 win. Honestly speaking, this time around, Manchester United took control of the game, and for the first time ever at Anfield, Liverpool looked more like the second best team, or I would best describe it as, they seemed more like the Underdogs on that day. Game started well, with Maxi coming close to drawing first blood for Liverpool with a long-range shot going on target, but only to witness that ball being pushed away impressively by the unpredictable David De Gea. Liverpool then broked the deadlock with a headed goal by Martin Skrtel in the 21st minute, That goal came after a silly mistake by De Gea, attempting to clear the ball away from Andy Carroll, but Skrtel smartly sneaked in to grab that goal, credits to Andy Carroll's pressure that was piled on De Gea. Manchester United  were looking more threatening after conceding that goal, and they made Liverpool pay for their lackluster performance in the final 10 minutes heading towards half-time with Park-Ji Sung scoring the equalising goal in the 39th minute. Second half was on the border, as both teams kept trying their best to grab a goal, and exactly on the 88th minute, Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt, who came off the bench as a sub, scored the winning goal for Liverpool. The goal came after a Pepe Reina's long goal kick that, fell kindly to Kuyt's feet after Patrice Evra failed to clear it away as it was heading towards him, and Kuyt finishing it off with calmly taken low show down the right hand corner. Anfield erupted as that goal went in and smile was put sternly back on Dalglish's face, and most importantly the relief that he totally needed. Patrice Evra's return to Anfield, marked a terrible return for him, as he is the one who should be blamed for not clearing the ball away before it was put right on the plate for Dirk Kuyt to finish it right at the end of the game and the boo-ing in the stadium roared each time Evra get's on the ball. If Liverpool were to miss any key players in  both Cup Ties against the Manchester Clubs, undoubtedly that key figure would be Luis Suarez. He is a highly missed figure in the Liverpool squad due to the racism row he had with Evra, and so proud he was to see his team win and qualify to the respective rounds without him in the game. Suarez will make his return against Spurs on the 6th February and that's going to be a cracker at Anfield. With guaranteed qualifications in both the League and FA Cup to the next rounds, Liverpool then turned their attention to the away game against Wolves. Kenny Dalglish feels that it's going to be a great race for fourth spot in the tabel, as they walk away with three points, winning 0-3 against Wolves. Goal scorers in that match, were Andy Carroll, Dirk Kuyt and the tireless Craig Bellamy. Andy Carroll, hopefully he is finally picking up his form as he scored a goal against Wolves, and he has been getting more confident day by day, and Dalglish stated that, he sees alot of changes in Carroll's playing style of late and very impressed that he scored a goal and this would definitely help boost some confidence on him. Craig Bellamy, is once again proving to be a key figure for the reds, and undoubtedly he is a super threat, and Dalglish just can't wait till Suarez returns, so that he can pair up with Bellamy maybe just behind Carroll, if he keeps finding his good form.

 

Ultimate Revenge By The Reds Againts Man City In League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg

• The 3-0 impressive victory that the blues enjoyed over the reds eight days ago was overshadowed in the league cup semi-final 1st leg, on thursday, where the reds won 0-1 at the Etihad stadium with Steven Gerrard scoring the only goal of the game with an early penalty on the 12Th minute. It was Stevie's first full 90 minutes played on the field since he got injured back in the October last year, and didn't he just pull out an outstanding performance for the reds again. It is such a big lift for Kenny Dalglish and the reds as they welcome back the skipper to the squad and hoping for the best in him to be unleashed again in all the remaining games till the end of the season because it is very likely that there is already 2-3 teams competing for the fourth spot, so it is extremely crucial to have the skipper back in time to make an immediate impact. Teams that are competing would be Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal, so it is really going to be a close ending between the top teams as the points at the moment is super near and doesn't differ much though. Well, back to the Man City-Liverpool match, overall speaking, the game was really outstanding as Liverpool took control of the first half and Man City came out quite sustained in their fighting spirit in the second half and responded quite well but couldn't just find the finishing touch and failed to even score a goal. Liverpool started the game brightly, as they hope for a revenge and won an early penalty, when Man City's youngster, who had to to replace the suspended Vincent Kompany for his unlikely red-card for a fairly won tackle againt's Manchester United's Nani in the FA cup Fourth Round brought down Martin Skrtel in the edge of the penalty corner and referee Robert Webb gave a straight penalty without any hesitation, and unsurprisingly none of the Man City players denied that decision even the tackler himself, but it is understood that was a very harsh tackle by the youngster. Steven undoubtedly converted it right to the bottom left corner and Joe Hart almost made an outstanding stop but failed. Besides that penalty, Liverpool did had some decent chances and it was all on-target but with the on-form Joe Hart, the reds find it hard to get past him as he made a lot of terrific saves and on top of that, he might have given City the slightest of hopes in the second-leg at Anfield end of this month, but every team knows that Anfield is one place where you'll have to really be serious and not lack out, because it's Liverpool's homeground and they will nail the second-leg well to bed if City don't give a big fight till the end. Steven Gerrard then had a clash with Mancini, in the tunnel during half time, with Gerrard annoyed with Mancini's complaints about Johnson's two-footed challenge on Joleon Lescott, in which Gerrard thinks it's a clean tackle and he don't see anything wrong with that. Mancini denied and said, ''this was even worse that happened in the FA Cup fourth round, when Kompany tackled Nani'', so i really feel Johnson should have been sent off''. City, with this loss against Liverpool, already their fourth of the season, really are looking very shaky at the moment with some players away on National duties, like the Toure brother's and the current loss, is David Silva suffering an ankle injury and will be out for at least 3 weeks. So, it is going to be quite a tough season from now for City as tough ones againts the top teams awaits them. Liverpool will be at home againts Stoke City this weekend with Kenny Dalglish likely to field his strong squad as they look to close the gap with the teams ahead like, Chelsea and Arsenal. 

Kop Flop ? and the 8 match ban for Suarez..???..

 
well, it's been pretty much of a 50% 50% season so far for Liverpool, never really threatening the current top team in the top of the table, but nevertheless, they ended the year on a high with an impressive 3-1 win over Newcastle United at Anfield. well, talking about the current Kop Flop as branded almost by everyone including some Liverpool fans as well, that includes me as well, positively talking, i don't think he deserves to be branded as ''Kop Flop'' at first because he is giving his very best for the club and is indeed working all out to get on the scoresheet as often as he can, but bad luck just keeps knocking on his head everytime he get's the chance. Probably , just like the old saying, he needs time to adapt himself well into the Red's playing style and their flow of game. It will of course undoubtedly be different when he was playing for Newcastle United, because Liverpool playing style is way more faster and they play lot's of long ball passing which shouldnt be an excuse at all for Carroll because, he's tall and he can jump well too. With Steven Gerrard back from Injury now, then Carroll should be happy as he will have an extra force, i would say an outstanding provider of the ball and this would help ease the pressure on Carroll if he starts banging in the goals for Liverpool. Stewart Downing, also one of the expensive summer signing for the Reds, haven't scored his first goal yet, and his work rate and the effort he puts in all the game is speechless, absolutely top-draw since he was signed from Aston Villa. He has been providing all the crosses for Carroll so far, and also the tireless Jose Enrique, but it's just the clinical and the final touch that is terribly missing. Like i said earlier, Gerrard is back and this will definitely be a huge boost to Kenny's Soldiers. It has indeed been a devastating year so far for Steven Gerrard as he's been an injury prone lately, and hopefully he's back at his best now and to provide the magnificent service he always provides for Liverpool in all occasions. One similar situation that is being faced by another player is, Fernando Torres who signed for Chelsea last January for a record 50Million Euro. He has only scored 4 goals so far for Chelsea and how more dissapointing and frustrating that can get for Andrea's Villa Boas. His situation at Chelsea has just got bad to worst lately, as he is seated in the bench in almost all the games lately by AVB after seeing that he can't score in games and adding things worst, his place in the Spain National squad is also hanging on the thread as Vicente Del Bosque has said that ''he's not at his at late, and not scoring like he used to,and there are so many other class players waiting to get their call-up for the Spain Squad, so he will (torres) will be axed from the squad if he doesn't perform for Chelsea''. That statement by Del Bosque was strict and straight to the point.

Suarez Evra Squaring Up

Suarez, Evra and Ref 

here comes the best part of all. Luis Suarez's 8 match ban which could cost Liverpool their top four finish in the table or even a possible chance of giving a fight for the title. As we all know, Luis Suarez was involved in a square up with Manchester United Ace, Patrice Evra, their current captain in a match at Anfield last October where it was said that Suarez used some inappropriate words towards Evra describing his ethnicity. This has become more of like a ''textbook racial profiling'' as The  
English FA has handed Suarez 8 match ban for his reactions towards Evra during that match. Suarez also claimed that Evra happen to have used the word ''South American'' at certain point of the conversation between the two superstar players, but the FA never took that into consideration at all because as according to the English FA, ''South American'' is not as bad or harsh i would say compared to ''Negrito'' which means small black guy. Suarez was extremely upset with this decision and had no possible chance of escaping this case but to just accept and bare the consequences which is considered very heavy for Kenny Dalglish and his Crew as he won't be playing for 8 consecutive matches, including some crucial matches, With Manchester City in the League Cup Semis and others as well. He started his spell at Liverpool outstandingly and has been performing well for the reds since he was signed for Ajax during the summer last year. 8 match banned will simply cost liverpool alot unless Carroll steps up to the expectations and his best form by starting to give the goals for Liverpool and also not to forget the, powerhouse Craig Bellamy. Bellamy has also been playing well for the Reds since his free transfer from Cardiff City, and he will likely be the possible replacement for Luis Suarez and also be a feeder for Andy Carroll upfront. Kenny Dalglish will now play more of like a 4-3-3 formation with Gerrard, linking with Bellamy just behind Andy Carroll. Downing, Henderson or Dirk Kuyt will fill in the flanks on the right and left wing, with Charlie Adam the first choice central Midfield for now, with Lucas out of injury and also a good choice on the bench, Jay Spearing. Everything will move well once Suarez is back from suspension and yes, i almost forgot, Suarez's 8 match ban is also inclusive of the reaction he gave towards the Fulham fans when the two teams clashed at Craven Cottage last December. He rudely flashed the middle finger and that was done on purpose and also out of frustration because he felt that he was clearly onside, when he put the ball behind the net with a stunner and unfortunately ruled offside by the linesman. Any sportsman would obviously be furious over the decision and he made the remarks he wanted to do, which is in a way, is very wrong but that is Suarez.you can't help it.. He's just very expressive most of the time as you can see, not matter off or on field. Long Live the Reds..!!! YNWA..