“Manchester City dominated the game but somehow managed to come away with nothing. Gerard Houllier named a very attack-minded side – Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Marc Albrighton and Gabriel Agbonlahor all played behind Darren Bent, who made his first start for the club. Carlos Cuellar returned at right-back.” Zonal Marking
“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on January 16, 2011. The full MOTD episode can be viewed here.” The 90th Minute
“Arsenal had all the best moments but failed to get the breakthrough. Arsene Wenger played the same side as in the recent 3-0 victory over Chelsea, which meant no place for Marouane Chamakh or Andrei Arshavin. Roberto Mancini made five changes, including three of his back four. He also left out Adam Johnson, instead playing Jo on the left. Arsenal started the match at a very high tempo when in possession, and should have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes when Jack Wilshere’s cross-shot wasn’t reached by Robin van Persie.” Zonal Marking
Once a Gunner, always a Hammer?
“If Trevor Brooking wouldn’t have fallen over in the penalty area at 3.13pm on Saturday 10th May 1980 life would have been so different for me. The moment a child chooses their football team to follow is a monumental decision, the first right of passage into adulthood. After being taken to Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Leyton Orient and Arsenal I had to choose which route I would take. Coming from a family of Charlton Athletic and West Ham United fans I obviously chose Arsenal.” The Ball Is Round
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on January 1, 2011. The full edition of MOTD (which features all matches together) can be viewed here.” The 90th Minute
“Everton went ahead early on, and held on despite going down to ten men for the final half hour. Roberto Mancini recalled James Milner to his starting line-up, playing him in a deep midfield role with Yaya Toure as the playmaker. Carlos Tevez started upfront. David Moyes made two changes. Steven Pienaar was out, so Leon Osman played on the left, whilst Victor Anichebe started upfront rather than Louis Saha.” Zonal Marking
Match of the Week: Manchester City 1-2 Everton
“Carlos Tevez, then, has withdrawn his transfer request after what are apparently called “clear the air” talks with the executives of Manchester City Football Club. It feels as if there is an incessant need on the part of the media to create a crisis at Manchester City at every turn this season. We all know that their financial arrangements err on the wrong side of ridiculous, but the suspicion is now starting to form that there is something of a witch hunt going on at The City of Manchester Stadium. City, the upstarts, the perennial failures, are at the point of achieving something and you don’t have to be a fan of the way that they are going about things to start to form the opinion that there are plenty of people out there that really don’t want to them to upset the status quo.” twohundredpercent
Manchester City 1-2 Everton – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
“I hugely resent the management’s suggestions that I have been unduly influenced by others,” said Tevez. “I am disappointed that the management should now see fit to try to portray the situation in another light.” Run of Play
Henry Winter: Manchester City must remember that the club is bigger than any one player – including Carlos Tévez
“Adios, amigo, and thanks for all the goals. If Carlos Tévez leaves for Real Madrid, there can be no doubt that Manchester City and the Premier League would be a poorer place without the sparkling little Argentine. Eastlands and English football would, however, be a better place without his agent, Kia Joorabchian.” Telegraph – Henry Winter
“I wanted to do some sort of preview of the forthcoming Premiership season here at Ghostgoal but really wasn’t sure how to go about it. I was especially unsure as to whether anybody wanted to trawl through my thoughts on clubs that I hadn’t followed in pre-season and didn’t really have a feel for the mood amongst the fan base. The brilliant solution – for me anyway – was to ask bloggers, websites, fans & fanzines of all the sides concerned to help me out and build some sort of picture of where everyone was at. It has been a task complicated by a transfer window that doesn’t shut until nearly 3 weeks after the season has begun and also by the time delay in compiling the preview – apologies to Damian, for example, the Villa fan who gave his views on the eve of Martin O’Neill’s dramatic walkout!” Ghost Goal
“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on December 4, 2010. If a link is unavailable, it will be added later.” The 90th Minute
“It’s been several years since the Gunners won a trophy but will this season be any different? Arsenal are still alive in all competitions (Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League, EPL) and below is a closer look at their chances in each one.” The 90th Minute
“Manchester United’s new-look forward line, Arsenal’s pressing, Blackpool’s corners and Rafael da Silva’s tackling” (Guardian)
“Below are links to Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on November 27, 2010. The full episode of MOTD can be viewed here (contains all matches).” (The 90th Minute)
“Many questions were raised when Jay Bothroyd received a call up to England’s National team for the friendly against France. Isn’t there someone else playing in the Premier League that would be more worthy of a call-up? Is a player playing in the second tier good enough for an International team as highly ranked as England? There are many blogs that have gone into the positives and negatives of Bothroyd’s call up, that is not the question I wanted to look at. Fabio Capello has himself questioned the number of English players playing at the highest level, limiting the pool of players he can pick his squad from. Does Capello have a point? If not who are the strikers playing in the Premier League that Capello could call on and are other countries suffering the same fate?” (gib football show)
“Manchester City’s decision to start the recent derby game with a midfield of Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Yaya Touré was an extreme example of how much the ‘holding midfielder’ has become a part of the football scene. More than half of the teams in the World Cup used formations with two holding players, and it is just as common to see the same pattern in Leagues One and Two. Not bad for a position that Leeds United legend Johnny Giles describes as ‘a myth’.” (WSC)
“City’s superb first half display effectively won the game before half-time. Mark Hughes chose a 4-4-1-1 / 4-4-2 formation, with Clint Dempsey just behind Andy Johnson. Carlos Salcido returned so Damien Duff moved back into midfield, whilst Chris Baird replaced Stephen Kelly at right-back.” (Zonal Marking)
“Last week, we looked at how Birmingham’s pressing of Manchester City’s centre-backs at goal-kicks forced Joe Hart to kick the ball long, losing possession on every occasion. Against Fulham, the situation was changed with the introduction of Jô. He offered more of an aerial presence in the City attack, despite being positioned on the left wing. The majority of Hart’s kicks were sent towards the left-hand side, where six of the long balls were won by the Brazilian striker. This chalkboard compares Hart’s distribution in the Birmingham game to the Fulham game, showing how the presence of Jô helps City win possession high up the pitch.” (Guardian)
“Below are Match Of The Day highlights for all the EPL matches on November 20, 2010. If there’s not a link available for a match, it will be updated shortly. The full edition of MOTD (which includes all matches) can be viewed here.” (The 90th Minute)
“Below are MOTD highlights for all the Premier League matches on November 13, 2010. (The 90th Minute)
“Below are video highlights for the Premier League matches on Wednesday, November 10, 2010. If a match doesn’t have a link, it’s not yet available but should be added soon.” (The 90th Minute)
“A disappointing match that produced very few goalscoring chances. Roberto Mancini went with his usual 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 system. Mario Balotelli was suspended so James Milner came in, with David Silva switching to the left. Sir Alex Ferguson went with his one-striker formation, seeking to match City in midfield by playing Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick. Nani was on the right with Ji-Sung Park on the left. Rafael continued at right-back.” (Zonal Marking)
Match of the Midweek: Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
“Perhaps it was ‘The Curse Of ITV’ returning to haunt us again. Last night, they showed a documentary about football in Manchester which examined, through the eyes of Eric Cantona, the current and historical state of the rivalry between Manchester City and Manchester United. The two clubs have had their fair share of drama from the matches between them in recent years, so perhaps it was understandable that ITV should choose to schedule this match at this time. Other corners of the press had, after all, also been been building the match up in a wearyingly predictable manner.” (twohundredpercent)
Highly-anticipated match offers little for most to cheer about
“Few Manchester derbies have ever been so hyped; few have ever been so disappointing. It was a game that yielded just one chance of note: the free-kick that Carlos Tevez curved toward the top corner after 35 minutes. The effort lacked pace, though, and Edwin van der Sar was able to make a simple enough diving save. And while most were probably bored rigid, Sir Alex Ferguson could congratulate himself on a job well done.” (SI)
“Below are MOTD video highlights for all the EPL matches on November 6, 2010. You can watch the full episode of MOTD here (contains all matches).” (The 90th Minute)
Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle United – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)
“Below are MOTD video highlights for all the EPL matches on October 30, 2010. The full edition of Match Of The Day (which includes all the matches) can be found here.” (The 90th Minute)
“It’s been happening quietly, since for some reason the media don’t seem all that eager to visit the possibility that their original version of the story was full of exaggerations and mistakes, but some of the grandiose claims about the purchase of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group are finally starting to go up in smoke. For instance: the notion that City’s new owners—usually described as “the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi royal family”—were sitting on $850 billion which they were prepared to pour into the club. This astonishing, not to say newspaper-selling, claim turns out to have been based on a simple misconception.” (Run of Play)
Treuziñ ar bed isdouarel, Joachim Patinir
“Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner were on target as Arsenal struck a blow for the old guard against 10-man Manchester City, triumphing 3-0 at Eastlands. City had been looking to reclaim second place in the Premier League but hopes of a fifth successive win were all but dashed with the early sending off of Dedryck Boyata.” (ESPN)
Manchester City 0-3 Arsenal: red card holds back City, but Arsenal impress in important win
“An early red card was the game’s key moment, but Arsenal played well on their way to an ultimately comfortable victory. Manchester City’s front six were as expected – the news was at the back, where Dedryck Boyata started alongside Vincent Kompany in Kolo Toure’s absence, with Jerome Boateng at left-back and Micah Richards at right-back.” (Zonal Marking)
“With several matches played, the dark haze clouding our view of football in England has finally started to disperse. Now, with the crystal clear light of the holiest of truths, we set upon the most divine of inquisitive expeditions. We turn a deciphering eye upon the UK, helping you to distinguish the verdad santisima from the deceptive half-truths mulling about. Let us begin.” (futfanatico)
“This afternoon I had the pleasure of sitting down to watch a full Blackpool match for the first time this season: I did not think that it would an enjoyable experience, but it was. A thoroughly entertaining match, very open, packed full of chances and (controversial) incidents. Blackpool have exceeded the expectations of many this season; fully expected to be the whipping boys of the league, they currently sit in a commendable 10th position and have more than held their own over the course of the opening eight games.” (Football Express)
“So it’s easier to get dropped from your national team than it is to get a yellow card these days. And that’s all to the good, in my opinion. I hate it when referees try to inject themselves into the game. I prefer it when nature, and the intensive care unit, are allowed to take their course. Seriously, just let the players play until full time rolls around, or until they’re incapacitated with injuries that could have been avoided if you occasionally sent someone off. Either way, there’s no need to go occasionally sending people off. Everyone who’s making a big deal about this is just jealous of Manchester City anyway.” (Run of Play)
Robinho
“Just a week after Arsenal reported record profits of £56 million, the other side of the football finance spectrum was seen when Manchester City announced a massive loss of £121 million for the year ending 31 May 2010. This is not quite the worst loss ever reported in Premier League history – that dubious honour belongs to Chelsea, who lost £141 million in 2004/05, the first full year after the acquisition by their Russian benefactor Roman Abramovich. However, to put this into context, City’s deficit is more than the combined loss for every other team in the Premier League if you exclude Chelsea (or Liverpool).” (Swiss Ramble)
“A close game that Newcastle were slightly unfortunate to lose. Manchester City continued with their now-established 4-5-1 system, with David Silva and James Milner switching flanks. Jerome Boateng and Joleon Lescott came into the backline. Newcastle’s system (taken after Hatem Ben Arfa’s early injury) was also a 4-5-1, with two wingers either side of a compact three-man midfield of Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Cheick Tiote.” (Zonal Marking)
“There were three Premier League matches on October 3 including Chelsea v Arsenal. In that match, Chelsea won 2-0 while Liverpool lost at home to Blackpool and Man City edged Newcastle United.” (The 90th Minute)
“Chelsea’s defending, Rafael van der Vaart’s passing, Manchester United’s shooting and Liverpool’s predictability in the final third” (Guardian)
The Clash
“Last week was going so well for Arsenal fans. First, their youthful team thrashed North London neighbours, Spurs, in a glorious performance at White Hart Lane, driven forward by an inspirational display from young tyro Jack Wilshere, the poster boy for Arsenal’s strategy of developing players from their academy. Then, away from the pitch, the board announced a sparkling set of financial results that confirmed their status as the best-run club in the Premier League.” (The Swiss Ramble)
“Chelsea’s 100% run ends with a third consecutive defeat to Manchester City. Roberto Mancini chose Dedryck Boyata at right-back to ease his defensive worries, with Pablo Zabaleta at left-back. David Silva got the nod over Adam Johnson, and started on the right.” (Zonal Marking)
“Gaël Clichy’s aerial struggles, Gareth Barry’s all-round display against Chelsea, Ashley Young’s lateral movement and Michael Essien’s shooting” (Guardian)
“It was a busy day in the EPL with a few surprises including West Brom upsetting Arsenal at the Emirates. Other interesting results were Man City’s win over Chelsea and West Ham’s home victory over Tottenham.” (The 90th Minute)
“Chelsea’s 100% run ends with a third consecutive defeat to Manchester City. Roberto Mancini chose Dedryck Boyata at right-back to ease his defensive worries, with Pablo Zabaleta at left-back. David Silva got the nod over Adam Johnson, and started on the right. Carlo Ancelotti named his side on Friday afternoon, and stuck to it. Indeed, with injury problems, there were few other options for him, and Chelsea lined up in the 4-3-3 shape they’ve favoured so far this season.” (Zonal Marking)
Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
(The 90th Minute)
Pierre Henri Revoil, Jeanne d’Arc in Prison in Rouen
“Real Madrid is broke. It was broke before completing the two most expensive transfers ever in 2009, bringing in Kaka for $86 million and Cristiano Ronaldo for $123 million. And it was broke when setting the previous transfer records, buying Luis Figo for $57 million in 2000 and Zinedine Zidane for $71 million in 2001.” (ESPN)
“This week we look at Cheick Tioté’s debut performance, Liverpool’s shooting, Ahmed Elmohamady’s tackling and Manchester City’s passing strategy” (Guardian)
“This week we look at Nani’s preference to play on the right, Arsenal’s short passing, Andy Carroll’s physical dominance, and Milan Jovanovic’s poor crossing.” (Guardian)
“It was a busy day in the EPL with eight fixtures on Saturday, September 11, 2010. The most dramatic match of the day was Everton’s comeback to draw 3-3 with Man United while Blackpool surprised Newcastle 2-0 at St James Park. Below are links to MOTD (Match of the Day) video highlights.” (The 90th Minute)
“With Javier Mascherano refusing to play, a response to the Liverpool board rejecting a derisory bid from Spanish giants FC Barcelona, Roy Hodgson had a tactical headache. He had options to replace El Jefecito with youngster Jay Spearing or risk Christian Poulsen, who was recovering from his debut on Thursday. This would have resulted in Steven Gerrard playing in an advanced midfield role, something of a ‘hot topic’ among football-fans. However, Roy Hodgson opted for a 4-4-2 with Gerrard and Lucas in midfield with N’Gog and the now-fit Fernando Torres up-front.” (Talking about Football)
“Europe’s premier footballing competition once again welcomed the officials of the elite clubs across the continent to the Grimaldi Forum, for what is quickly becoming the most comedic and most drawn out football draw ever . Even I would welcome Jim Rosenthal into the proceedings in an attempt to make it a little bit quicker than Ben Hur. The faux-drama of the event was astounding whilst the Inter players who won the club awards looked uninterested at the format. Meanwhile Gary Lineker was called upon to pick letters, a task he seemed utterly bemused by continually picking out Group C. Conspiracy? No of course not, just coincidence.” (6 Pointer), (Group E-H)
“In a league of Abramoviches and Glazers, and mid-ranking clubs dreaming of oligarchs and oil barons to bail them out, Arsenal’s owners have always stood out as somewhat of a curiosity. Yes, they may have both a Russian tycoon in Alisher Usmanov and an American billionaire investor in Stan Kroenke, but the club has been run by the Hill-Wood family since 1929 and takes pride in their plurality of ownership. What’s more, unlike several of England’s bigger clubs, the relationship between the board and the fans has always been generally good.” (Pitch Invasion)
“The Premier League season is less than two weeks old, but a look at how the top sides lined up in their opening matches provides an interesting indication of how they plan to approach the season from a tactical perspective. The diagrams below, screenshots from the ESPN Soccernet website, show the average positions adopted by the players from Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool in their teams’ opening home games of the season. (Data is taken only from home games because ESPN’s average position diagrams inexplicably go a bit haywire for away teams.) Average position diagrams do not give a water-tight representation of a team’s formation – which is necessarily in a constant state of flux – but they do offer useful insights into basic shape.” (Football Further)
Joseph Parrocel, Combat de Leuze, 18 September 1691
“A dominant performance from City, who weren’t flattered by the 3-0 scoreline. Roberto Mancini made changes on his wings, bringing in James Milner and Adam Johnson for Shaun Wright-Phillips and David Silva. Mario Balotelli wasn’t fit, and Emmanuel Adebayor was omitted. Joleon Lescott played at left-back in the absence of Aleksandar Kolarov.” (Zonal Marking)
The Monday Night Match: Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool
“Well, that’s one question answered, at least. Those that had been wondering how long it would take Manchester City’s diamond-encrusted team to gel this season have their answer, and it is quite a specific one – give or take a few seconds, it took one match and twelve minutes before the team clicked into place and from then on the result of this evening’s match was never in a great deal of doubt. While City gelled, Liverpool were oil and water.” (twohundredpercent)
City smash sorry Reds
“Manchester City flexed their enormous muscles at Eastlands tonight to delight the man who made it all possible and deliver their biggest beating of Liverpool since 1937. Sheikh Mansour could not have picked a better night to watch the team he has spent £1 billion on in a league game for the first time.” (ESPN)
City slickers hit their stride
“Once deemed the final piece in the jigsaw, then a cause of controversy, now the architect of their downfall, Gareth Barry has become a byword for bad tidings for Liverpool. This is the player for whom Rafa Benitez was willing to sacrifice Xabi Alonso, the one he really wanted when the club bought Robbie Keane and the man who became the reason for escalating tensions.” (ESPN)
Manchester City roll back the years as Mancini’s mentality takes hold
“The first thing to say about Manchester City is that for a team of fractious individuals, mercenaries and strangers, only there for the money – and, please, can someone explain how they are possibly going to keep them all happy? – and led by an unpopular manager who doesn’t speak to the players (and will probably be gone by Christmas anyway), they didn’t do too badly, did they?” (Guardian)
Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
“Manchester City played their first home match of the 2010-11 EPL season with a match against Liverpool on Monday, August 23, 2010. The match highlights can be found here at Free Soccer Highlights.” (The 90th Minute)
“There is a saying – familiarity breeds contempt. However, for the attacking trident of Chelsea, a keen understanding and movement has led to a whopping 12-0 goal differential and two wins. Granted, neither West Brom nor Wigan will be fighting for titles this season, but…but…but…six goals is six goals is six goals. Malouda was at his thoughtful best, anticipating a Lampard shot and pouncing on the rebound. Anelka followed a classy far-post finish with a right-place-at-the-right-time header (read: offside).” (futfanatico)
“With just one game played in the new Premier League season, the standings are basically meaningless—we’re the equivalent of 50 yards into a marathon, when the guy in the gorilla costume is still in with a chance of the lead. But there’s no escaping the fact that the opening weekend has left English soccer’s top division with a familiar and somewhat ominous look: Chelsea and Manchester United occupy two of the top three spots and are already two points clear of their biggest title rivals.” (WSJ)
Francesco Guardi
“A wonderful match – Tottenham looked like being given the thrashing of their life after half an hour, but recovered to take home a decent result, considering the two away goals. They made three changes from the side that were unfortunate not to beat Manchester City at the weekend – in came Sebastien Bassong, Giovani dos Santos and Roman Pavlyuchenko. The 4-4-2 remained. Young Boys lined up with a very interesting 4-2-3-1 shape, that became a 4-1-4-1 and a lopsided 3-3-3-1 at various points in the game.” (Zonal Marking)
Young Boys 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Champions League
“The UEFA Champions League play-off qualifying round began with several matches on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 including Tottenham Hotspur traveling to face BSC Young Boys.” (The 90th Minute)
“The first weekend of the season went into the books with the final whistle at Anfield, Arsenal’s visit to Liverpool the EPL Talk Podcast Match of the Week. To talk about the match and the eight from Saturday, I was joined Sunday night by Kartik Krishnaiyer for the first EPL Talk Weekend Review Show of the season.” (EPL Talk)
Roberto Mancini
“An excellent game to get the new Premier League season up and running. No goals, but tremendous entertainment and some interesting tactical elements too. Tottenham lined up with ten of the eleven who were involved in the penultimate game of last season against City – Vedran Corluka in for Younes Kaboul was the only changed. Roberto Mancini chose to field new signings Aleksandar Kolarov, David Silva and Yaya Toure, in a defensive-minded 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 that essentially featured three holding midfielders.” (Zonal Marking)
Citizen’s Arrest(ed) Development?
“Manchester City are without doubt English football’s most rapidly rising force, but Roberto Mancini’s team of supremely gifted guns for hire are struggling to find a collective identity. In many ways this situation is not surprising, most of the players have only known one another for a matter of days, but it was a problem that also seemed to afflict the Eastlands outfit last season and has come, unfortunately, to be a defining feature of the Mancini era.” (The Equaliser)
“A month and a day after Andres Iniesta slammed the ball low and true past Maarten Stekelenburg to win the World Cup for Spain, the Premier League is back. Richard Keys and the boys have some shiny new suits and ties, the 20 competing teams are ready for a shot at the title (who are we kidding, Blackpool’s title odds of 10,000-1 to win the league says it all), and the phrase ‘best league in the world’ is being dusted down, showered, groomed and dressed ready for an outing roughly every single time any league game has more than 2 goals.” (Just Footballs)
“We’re one day away from the start of the 2010-11 English Premier League season, and in response to your requests, we roll into the weekend with our full EPL preview. This podcast is all four of our preview shows edited into one file for your listening ease.” (EPL Talk)
” The predicted Premier League table in the WSC guide for 2009-10 turned out to be right in only two positions: we had Man City to finish fifth and Hull second from bottom.” (WSC)
Antoine Caron, The Triumph of Mars
“With the Premier League season kicking off Saturday, here’s what the next nine months might have in store …” (SI)
Premiership season predictions
“With a week to go before the season begins, here is my read on how the 20 Premier League clubs will finish, with the caveat that rosters could still change because we’re in the midst of the transfer window.” (SI)
Fergie squanders Ozil money on Oliver Twist
“The new season is nearly upon us and Off The Ball will be scratching around the underbelly of professional football for some bizarre and often inexplicable revelations every step of the way. This week, we have Manchester United spending £7.4 million on some bloke from the Portuguese third division, Steven Gerrard claiming Joe Cole is better than Lionel Messi, Patrice Evra’s attack on Lillian Thuram and a referee running for his life.” (ESPN)
Pretenders eager to kick-off after poor pre-seasons
“It was a stroll in the sunshine, a chance to introduce new players to an appreciative audience. That, historically, was the role of the pre-season friendly. Now its definition has changed. It can become part of a global PR campaign, winning new friends and cementing distant allegiances. For the biggest clubs, it can be a lucrative interlude before the official start of business.” (ESPN)
“In the final part of our preview series, Laurenca McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself talk about the three clubs we expect to compete for the 19th Premier League title: Arsenal, Chelsea, and Mancester United. We also talk surprises and disappointments, themes and trends, and our first match of the week: Arsenal’s visit to Liverpoll.” (EPL Talk)
“The die, it seems, is cast. England won, Hungary’s goal never even crossed the line, the first-half performance was actually quite good to watch and the second-half display wasn’t a great deal worse and the captain scored two lovely goals. So everybody’s happy, right?” (Guardian)
“Wednesday is here, and time for the EPL Talk team to tackle the strength of the league. No league in the world has the kind of depth the Premier League has four through eight. Today, Laurence McKenna, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself talk about Aston Villa, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham and pick which teams will miss-out on Europe and which team will go to Champions League.” (EPL Talk)
Philips Wouwerman
“Back without much of a bang and certainly with a whimper from those suffering from World Cup burn-out, the Premier League’s return would seem low-key compared to its previous big build-ups. When Johnny Heitinga is among your list of top performers in South Africa, it’s perhaps best to draw a Barclays-sponsored veil over the summer’s events, and especially when your prime stars flopped to a man, give or take Cesc Fabregas’ late cameos for Spain.” (ESPN)
“‘Where now for Manchester City?’ has probably been the hottest Premier League question of the summer. Such has been their level of spending that the Champions League was regarded by some as the minimum target for last season, and Mark Hughes paid the price for this increase in expectation with his job. Whether the improved that much under new coach Roberto Mancini is open to question, and City were beaten to the fourth Champions League place by Tottenham Hotspur with a game to go of the season. City’s reaction has been, perhaps unsurprisingly, to go out and spend more money, though perhaps not as much as some had expected. This season, qualification for the Champions League is the minimum expectation for Manchester City, and that’s a phrase that not many people would have considered likely as recently as three or four years ago.” (twohundredpercent)
“In the first of four parts, the EPL Talk team returns from their post-World Cup hiatus just in time for the 2010-11 English Premier League Season. Richard Farley, Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer, in the first quarter-hour of a recording from Sunday night, talk about some of the summer’s overriding issues – the sale of Liverpool, 25/7 – as well as the direction the show will take in the next week and over the next season.” (EPL Talk)
“Here is my read on how the 20 Premier League clubs will finish this season, although rosters could still change since we’re in the midst of the transfer window and with a week to go before the season begins.” (SI)
Scissors Kick 