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EPL Arsenal Chelsea 2008-2009 Season - Football Slate

EPL: Arshavin Signs With Arsenal, Keane Back At Tottenham, & Quaresma Goes To Chelsea

February 7th 2009 05:48
First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of activity here for the past two weeks. I've been having trouble catching games online. I hope everything will be fixed this weekend. Meanwhile, there's been a lot of activity in Europe during the winter transfer period. So, here are my thoughts on some of them.

After failing to settle at Liverpool, Robbie Keane returned to Tottenham for a fee of £12 million and was immediately named captain of the Spurs.
Robbie Keane
Keane is back where he belongs
Keane's move to Liverpool didn't really help the Reds when you look at his performances with the club. Sure he scored some important goals including an important equalizer against Arsenal, but he quickly became the unwanted third wheel in the partnership of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. When Benitez tried to turn him into a winger, things only got worse. I guess Liverpool benefited from having him around when Torres was injured, but in the long run, this union wasn't going to last.


Keane wasn't the only one to go back to The Lane this January. Jermaine Defoe decided to leave Portsmouth, a club that's been going nowhere despite the signing of both Peter Crouch and Defoe. Pompey also lost Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid. They now hope that Greek imports Angelos Basinas and Theofanis Gekas will keep them away from relegation.


Despite failing to pry Kaka away from AC Milan, Manchester City has done an excellent job (in my opinion) of picking up under-the-radar players. They first signed Wayne Bridge from Chelsea to strengthen their left flank; something that's been troublesome for them since the start of the season. Then, they picked up Craig Bellamy from West Ham United, a player that can perform reasonably well when surrounded by good players. His fragility might be a concern, but he can still be lethal when healthy. They didn't forget the midfield either, signing Dutchman Nigel de Jong from Hamburger SV. The young player was an underrated force in the Netherlands' powerful midfield during Euro 2008. He will do the dirty job in the middle of the pack so that Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips can express their skills and creativity. With those three signings, there's no doubt that City has a better team than at the start of the season. Yes, Bellamy and Bridge have probably been overpaid, but, seriously, why would you join City if it wasn't for money?

Andrei Arshavin
Will Arshavin silence opposition crowds?
The Big Four stayed relatively quiet. Arsenal made the biggest move of the transfer period by landing the much-hyped Andrei Arshavin. Wenger probably expects fans to see it as a move towards building a winning team, but with both Fabregas and Rosicky out, the Frenchman would've been CRAZY if he hadn't made a move to get someone to help in midfield. Still, when you think long-term, having Fabregas, Rosicky, Nasri, and Arshavin in the middle is not too shabby for a guy who hates to spend money for players. They're still missing that defensive midfielder though.

In West London, Chelsea welcomed Ricardo Quaresma on loan from Inter Milan. The winger has been in Jose Mourinho's doghouse for quite awhile in Italy, and a fresh start will probably do him some good. He'll be re-united with Scolari, so there's no doubt that he'll be use properly. Besides, Chelsea needed fresh blood after losing Joe Cole for the rest of the season. Malouda certainly isn't the guy that will turn things around.

Over in Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson made minor moves, signing two young Serbs: Zoran Tosic and Adam Ljajic. I only saw Tosic play once and he looks promising. He's a bit short, so he might no be strong on the ball, but one thing's for sure, he's really fast.

That's it for now. Pray that I can finally watch some games tomorrow (well, actually later today) so I can post some recaps.

See y'all later.
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2008-2009 EPL Wrap-Up (Week 11-20)

January 4th 2009 20:53
Liverpool is still in the lead as the Premiership heads into 2009. However, Chelsea and the Red Devils aren't far behind with Sir Alex Ferguson's troops holding two games in hand. Here are the standings after 20 games.

1. Liverpool (20-13-6-1 | 45pts) (Last 10: 5-4-1 | 19pts)
After a decent start to their season where they went undefeated, grabbing several late wins in the process, Liverpool started their second ten-game sequence with a 2-1 loss against Tottenham, their lone defeat so far in the season. Their wins have become more convincing as three of their five victories came with clean sheets, and their last one was a complete thrashing of Newcastle United which finished on the score of 5-1. Still, draws against Fulham, West Ham United, Hull City and Arsenal have prevented the Reds from pulling away, allowing the other teams to stay close behind. One can only hope that the return of Fernando Torres will provide the gamebreaker in those types of game.

2. Chelsea (20-12-6-2 | 42pts) (Last 10: 5-4-1 | 19pts)
Although Chelsea have the same record as Liverpool for the last ten games, their performances seem to have been declining rather than the other way around. Their defense has nothing to reproach to itself – all five wins have been with clean sheets and two of their four draws finished scoreless. It's the offense that's been lacking inspiration despite scoring 18 goals in ten games – six in their last five. After a great start to his season, Nicolas Anelkas has slowed down and Joe Cole's injuries have deprived the Blues of much needed skills and thrills. What Chelsea lacks right now is a player that can come off the bench and completely change the complexion of the game. Kalou has filled that role for a certain period but he can't be expected to do it every game. I'm not convinced that Deco and Ballack can be very effective playing at the same time because it feels like one is always taking some of the other's space and role. The Blues also lack young guns – youngsters who are just hungry to play, who could give back the enthusiasm that was there at the beginning of the season. It might be a stretch, but I wonder what a player like PSV's Afellay could do playing on the wings for Chelsea.

3. Manchester United (18-11-5-2 | 38pts) (Last 10: 6-3-1 | 21pts)
The Red Devils' much vaunted offense has gone dry, scoring 14 goals in their last ten games – just three in their last five. The good news is that they're still winning, picking up three more points than the top two in the last ten games. But, you have to wonder how much stress Sir Alex Ferguson is willing to take as his team struggles to find the back of the net before the final quarter of the game. What's even more worrisome is that they haven't won a single game against the Top Four while picking up 1-0 wins against teams such as Stoke City, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough. To my mind, much of the imbalance has come from the arrival of Berbatov. Unlike Tevez and Rooney, Berbatov isn't a hard-working, Energizer bunny, he simply hangs around, waiting for opportunities here and there. In that sense, United are starting to look more and more like Chelsea with a central striker holding the ball up instead of Manchester's usual free-flowing, tic-tac-toe-like offense. With Berbatov sticking firmly in the middle, Rooney and Ronaldo aren't able to move as freely as before, making United's play pretty predictable. Their next fixture against Chelsea will prove to be a decisive match for both teams.

4. Aston Villa (20-11-5-4 | 35pts) (Last 10: 5-3-2 | 16pts)
The surprise of the season, the Villans have been having a jolly good time inserting themselves between Arsenal and the rest of the Big Four. Although they started the month of November with two losses, they rebounded very well, defeating Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates, drawing 0-0 against Manchester United, and drawing 2-2 against Arsenal.

5. Arsenal (20-10-5-5 | 35pts) (Last 10: 4-3-3 | 15pts)
There are two sides to Arsene Wenger's squad: the strikingly efficient side which defeated both Manchester United and Chelsea 2-1 and drew 1-1 against Liverpool, and the easily demoralized side which was blanked against both Aston Villa and Manchester City (2-0 and 3-0 losses respectively). Four of those five results happened during the month of November, clearly showing a lack of consistency and focus. Wenger preached patience, knowing that Eduardo is inching closer to a Premier League return – something that will give more options to the French manager. Unfortunately, tragedy struck the Gunners two days before Christmas as Fabregas suffered a ligament injury in Arsenal's draw against Liverpool. The young captain will be out until April, meaning that he will also miss the Champions League's first knock-out stage. It's a big blow to Arsenal, and one can't help but feel that Wenger must find a central midfielder during the winter transfer period to give more confidence to his squad.

6. Everton (20-9-5-6 | 32pts) (Last 10: 6-2-2 | 20pts)
After getting only three wins in their first ten games, Everton improved their record by grabbing six wins in their last ten games. The main improvement has happened in defense as they went from conceding 24 goals in their first ten games, 6 in their last ten, and three in their last five that came from a 3-2 loss against Aston Villa.

7. Wigan Athletic (19-8-4-7 | 28pts) (Last 10: 6-3-1 | 21pts)
Similarly to Everton, Wigan have reversed their fortunes in the second ten-game stretch of the season, a 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford being the highlight of that period.

8. Hull City (20-7-6-7 | 27pts) (Last 10: 1-4-5 | 7pts)
Just one win in their last ten games has brought Hull City back down to earth. Two severe losses at the hands of Manchester City (5-1) and Sunderland (4-1) in their last three games don't leave much space for optimism.

9. Fulham (19-6-8-5 | 26pts) (Last 10: 3-6-1 | 15pts)
Just one defeat in the last ten games has kept Fulham afloat, hanging in the top ten. Draws against Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Chelsea point in the right direction.

10. West Ham United (20-7-4-9 | 25pts) (Last 10: 3-4-3 | 13pts)
Consistency has been the problem at West Ham United in this second ten-game stretch as wins, draws, and defeats succeed each other without the establishment of any kind of streak whether it's a losing streak or a winning one.

11. Bolton (20-7-2-11 | 23pts) (Last 10: 5-0-5 | 15pts)
In true second-half-of-the-table fashion, it's either win or lose for Bolton who defeat the teams below them but can't do the same to the teams above.

12. Portsmouth (20-6-5-9 | 23pts) (Last 10: 2-3-5 | 9pts)
Portsmouth ended 2008 on a four-game losing streak. The move of holding midfielder Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid isn't going to improve things in 2009.

13. Manchester City (20-6-4-10 | 22pts) (Last 10: 2-3-5 | 9pts)
Every world-class player in Europe has been linked to a move to City ever since the beginning of the season. They might need to climb up a bit in the standings to attract interest though.

14. Newcastle United (20-5-7-8 | 22pts) (Last 10: 3-4-3 | 13pts)

15. Sunderland (20-6-4-10 | 22pts) (Last 10: 3-1-6 | 10pts)

16. Tottenham Hotspur (20-5-5-10 | 20pts) (Last 10: 4-2-4 | 14pts)
Surprise wins against Liverpool and Manchester City, and a 0-0 draw against Manchester United are the Spurs' best results in the second ten-game stretch of the season.

17. Middlesbrough (20-5-5-10 | 20pts) (Last 10: 1-4-5 | 7pts)

18. Stoke City (20-5-5-10 | 20pts) (Last 10: 2-4-4 | 10pts)

19. Blackburn Rovers (20-4-6-10 | 18pts) (Last 10: 1-3-6 | 6pts)
A six-game losing streak was interrupted by a 3-0 win against Stoke City. Manager Paul Ince was also replaced by Sam Allardyce in order to bring the Rovers back in the right direction.

20. West Bromwich Albiom (20-5-3-12 | 18pts) (Last 10: 2-2-6 | 5pts)
West Brom has the worst record in the Premiership, picking up only five points in the last two months. The only way to explain this position is the lack of Premier League experience from a side that was promoted this season.
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EPL Week 18: Arsenal Draw 1-1 Against Liverpool, Chelsea Can't Score Against Everton

December 25th 2008 14:08
Arsenal – Liverpool: 1-1
When Robin Van Persie gave a 1-0 lead to Arsenal at the 23rd minute, things were decidedly looking bright for the Gunners. Although Liverpool tried to suffocate their midfielders, they were able to reach Adebayor and Van Persie with long balls over the top. The goal itself came from a superb Fabregas-like pass from Samir Nasri who sent the ball right between the Reds' center defenders for the Dutch striker to control with his chest and fire off a shot in the same manner as Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp.


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Unfortunately, Liverpool equalized the mark four minutes before half-time as Robbie Keane beat Arsenal's offside trap and half-volleyed Daniel Agger's clearance/pass past Manuel Almunia.


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As the game ended in a draw, most people's favorite subject of discussion afterwards was Adebayor's red card at the 61st minute after he received two yellows. In both cases, the call was a bit harsh, especially when, on the other side, Brazilian midfielder Lucas was snapping at the heels of every Arsenal midfielder all game long. To make matters worse, the Gunners lost Cesc Fabregas at half-time as he went down with a knee injury that will keep him out until Ahttp://my.orble.com/communit y/blogs/posts/create/6272/#fo rmpril at least. Down to ten men and without their maestro in midfield, Wenger's men took card after card in the last quarter of the match, desperately holding on to their draw while the referee finally issued a card to Lucas at the 79th minute.

You could say that the Liverpool coaching staff handed the draw to Arsenal since they didn't take advantage of their extra-man. Albert Riera, one of the Reds' best, was substituted at the 70th minute and replaced by Ryan Babel, and right away Liverpool's offense went off-kilter as Babel struggled to adjust to the pace of the game. Keane was also replaced for some unfathomable reason by Nabil El Zhar to no avail. Finally, the move that everyone was expecting came at the 87th minute when Lucas was replaced by David N'Gog as Liverpool effectively removed a holding midfielder for a striker, something that they should have done as soon as Adebayor was sent off. Both El-Zhar and Agger came close to giving the lead to the Reds, but it was simply too late. Once again, Liverpool took the safe approach to the game, hoping from a Steven Gerrard miracle in the final minutes, but I think the sooner they stop using him as a crutch, the better it will be for both the teams and its captain.

Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, Johan Djourou, William Gallas, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Cesc Fabregas (Abou Diaby, h-t), Alexandre Song, Samir Nasri (Emmanuel Eboue, 91st); Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor.

Liverpool's line-up: Pepe Reina; Alvaro Arbeloa, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger, Emiliano Insuja; Xabi Alonso, Lucas (David N'Gog, 87th); Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Albert Riera (Ryan Babel, 70th); Robbie Keane (Nabil El-Zhar, 80th).

Chelsea – Everton: 0-0
There's not much to say for this game except that apart from a deep penetration by Ashley Cole in the first minute of the game, it was Everton who had the best scoring opportunities all night long. Take it however you want, Chelsea were simply flat on that night. Maybe John Terry's red card issued in the 34th minute after a dangerous (at least in my book) tackle on a Everton player had something to do with Chelsea's poor performance, but, with the chance of grabbing first place from Liverpool, there was no excuse stopping them from going all out. If it wasn't for Everton's lack of offensive punch, the blues would've been staring at a defeat away from home.

Chelsea's line-up: Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Alex, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Deco (Wayne Bridge, 86th), John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole (Branislav Ivanovic, h-t), Nicolas Anelka (Didier Drogba, h-t).
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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: EPL, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, 2008-2009 Season
   


EPL Week 17: Big Four All Draw

December 16th 2008 06:10
Arsenal – Middlesbrough: 1-1
Although Arsenal are hanging on to the top five, their chances of grabbing the title are slowly diminishing. On Saturday, they couldn't get the winning goal against Middlesbrough who presented themselves as fierce competitors. Boro thoroughly dominated the first quarter of the first half. Unfortunately, it was Arsenal who opened at the 16th minute when Adebayor was left alone on the six-yard line and easily headed in Fabregas' corner. Around ten minutes later, Middlesbrough got their equalizer via Aliadere and the scoreline stayed the same until the final whistle.

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EPL Week 12: Nasri Gives Victory To Arsenal, Chelsea's Anelka Scores Double Against Blackburn

November 10th 2008 20:21
Arsenal – Manchester United: 2-1
Sir Alex Ferguson has to be cursing his team's missed opportunities after Saturday's match against the struggling Gunners. Twice now Manchester United has allowed their opponents to stay in the game simply because they couldn't capitalize on their opportunities. The Red Devils got two clear scoring chances in the first twenty minutes of game including a disallowed goal on which Berbatov was ruled offside (again!), and a missed shot by Rooney who had scored on a similar play on month ago. Consequently, Arsenal were the first to score when Samir Nasri fired a rocket past Van der Sar. The Gunners still weren't safe after that goal as United repeatedly assaulted Almunia's net without any success.

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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: EPL, Arsenal, Chelsea, 2008-2009 Season
   


2008-2009 EPL Wrap-Up (Week 1-10)

November 7th 2008 01:05
*Warning, huge post follows*

Before the beginning of the season, many people predicted that Manchester United would easily dominate their Premiership rivals. After ten games played, here's how the teams stack up


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EPL Week 9: Man. United Can't Face The Heat, Liverpool Win At The Bridge, Adebayor Saves Arsenal

October 29th 2008 03:07
Manchester United – Everton: 1-1
When Darren Fletcher scored his third of the season at the 21st minute, it looked like the Red Devils would get an easy win. Unfortunately, their domination only lasted in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, Everton's pressure became almost unbearable for Sir Alex Ferguson's men. It didn't help that Ferdinand had a couple of brain farts that put his team and Van der Sar in serious trouble. Everton tied the game at the 62nd minute, but they could've had easily grabbed the lead if their strikers were more precise.

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EPL Week 8: Chelsea Dominate Middlesbrough, Arsenal Pull Through Against Everton, Rooney On Fire

October 20th 2008 03:56
Chelsea – Middlesbrough: 5-0
Who can stop Scolari's men? Chelsea are simply bulldozing their way through the Premiership without much opposition. Against Middlesbrough, the Blues had all the time and space in the world to dictate the pace of the game. The first half ended with the score 1-0, the goal coming from Kalou. After that though, Chelsea ran a football clinic for their visitors who were overwhelmed by the home side's superiority. To play illustrates this dominance other than Belletti's goal at the 52nd minute. The versatile player received a pass a good distance away from Boro's goal, but the time and space given to him by the opposing defenders allowed to calmly control the ball and deliver a rocket of a shot that went top-corner. Two minutes later, Kalou would score his second, putting the game beyond doubt.

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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: EPL, Arsenal, Chelsea, 2008-2009 Season
   


EPL Week 7: Fabregas Saves Arsenal, Rooney On A Roll, Chelsea Still Undefeated

October 6th 2008 14:56
Sunderland – Arsenal: 1-1
The Gunners must be giving headaches to their fans. Although Wenger's men play an attractive kind of football (they are probably the best passing team of the Premiership), they still haven't displayed the kind of character that is required to become champions. Consistency is the key here. They completely schooled FC Porto in their Champions League encounter, yet they've had trouble finishing smaller clubs so far in the Premiership, with Sunderland being the latest to give them a run for their money.

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Posted By: Ann 2 - Category: EPL, Arsenal, Chelsea, 2008-2009 Season
   


Transfer News

September 5th 2008 23:48
Gosh, I meant to write this post so much earlier this week. Returning to university completely screwed up my writing process.

So, there was a lot of movement in the European soccer world on Monday, the deadline for summer transfers. Most of the important transfers took place in the EPL, but Serie A teams were also pretty busy including Inter and Juventus who both picked up a new player


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