Tag Archives: Chelsea

Football Weekly Extra: Super Saha stars as Everton stun Chelsea

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“James is back with another top-banana podcast featuring John Ashdown, Barry Glendenning and Paul Doyle. Midweek Premier League matches mean plenty of talking points: including Louis Saha increasing John Terry’s woe, Arsenal back to winning ways, and Aston Villa’s limited ambition against Manchester United. Sid Lowe is on the phone from Madrid with the truth about those Cesc Fábregas to Barcelona rumours, while James’s Italian round-up includes news of Ultras storming Lazio’s training ground.” (Guardian – James Richardson)

Football Weekly: Different season, but same old Big Four

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“The pod squad analyse Chelsea’s demolition of Arsenal, Liverpool’s bruising battle with Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur’s snoozefest with Aston Villa and ask: why are we getting another dose of the same old same old? Also in the show – and lest we be accussed of Big Four-centricity – we discuss Hull City’s recent revival now that Phil Brown ditched the earpiece and the goatee. Plus, we ponder whether Fabio Capello’s done the right thing in stripping John Terry of the England captaincy. And we get dewy-eyed about those Brat Pack movies of the 1980s. Finally, our favourite Teuton Raphael Honigstein brings us news of a rift in the German national team and the latest from the Bundesliga; Sid Lowe brings us up to date with Spain’s La Liga; and Jimbo tells us about Lazio’s mounting woes in Serie A.” (Guardian – James Richardson)

Why football clubs no longer flock to the January sales

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“Ajax Amsterdam’s general director recently tallied his club’s transfers, and came up with this estimate: only 8.3 per cent of the footballers Ajax had bought in the past decade had succeeded. Ajax’s Dutch rivals, he said, had done even worse. This January European clubs spent barely anything during the “transfer window”. English clubs forked out about £30m ($48m, €34m) on new players, their lowest for any January since 2003. German, Spanish and French clubs spent even less. The credit crunch has bitten soccer in the leg.” (Simon Kuper)

A Final Word On John Terry

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“In some respects, the furore surround the John Terry affair (for the want of a better phrase) says as much about the British and their attitudes as it does about Terry himself. The Guardian reported this morning on the mild amusement that the issue has caused in Italy, a country in which attitudes towards such matters are somewhat different to those currently on display in this country. The hypocrisy of the press in salaciously reporting their outrage at what has been going on whilst making absolutely certain that their readers know as much as they possibly can without overstepping the self-imposed line – and wafer thin – that separates their “exposés” from, say, a reader’s letter in “Razzle” causes roughly equal amounts amusement on the continent, where such matters are usually treated as, well, private.” (twohundredpercent)

Last Taboo in English Football: Playing Footsie With Mate’s Mate

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Winter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
“Tiger Woods kept his saucy private life under wraps for years, but the flaws of English soccer superstar John Terry, one of the country’s most prominent athletes, have always been on very public display. In 2001, Mr. Terry drunkenly taunted American tourists in a Heathrow Airport hotel in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. A year later, he was caught on camera urinating in a beer glass, which he then dropped on the floor. In 2008, Mr. Terry was fined for parking his Bentley in a spot for the disabled. Last December, he was secretly filmed by undercover reporters giving unauthorized tours of his team’s training ground to journalists posing as businessmen, allegedly in return for £10,000 (or $15,900) cash. Mr. Terry has denied accepting money for the tour.” (WSJ)

Terry Loses England Captaincy
“It would be naïve to say the drama is over, but the John Terry affair has taken a turn toward a conclusion, of sorts. After almost four years as captain of the England team, Terry was stripped of the armband Friday after a meeting with Manager Fabio Capello in London.” (NYT)

Terry stripped of England captaincy
“Terry’s future as skipper of his country has been the subject of intense speculation ever since allegations emerged that he had an affair with England team-mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend. The Chelsea defender met with England coach Capello at Wembley on Friday to discuss his future as captain in the wake of the allegations. There had been calls for Terry to lose the captaincy from sections of the media as it has been claimed more revelations are set to be exposed at the weekend.” (World Soccer)

Sergio Canales – Spain’s hottest prospect

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“On January 9, Racing Santander’s 18-year-old attacking midfielder Sergio Canales scored two goals to defeat Sevilla and become seemingly the most desired young player on the planet. It has been reported that Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid are all interested in him, while Vicente del Bosque reportedly hasn’t ruled out his inclusion in the Spanish squad for the World Cup.” (WSC)

Henry Winter: Fabio Capello has been let down by his employers as well as John Terry

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“Much of the rhetoric flowing through the FA’s Vision 2008-2012 argues that football can be a force for social change, for bettering the lives of millions through every action from tackling obesity to encouraging literacy. The FA runs a highly successful community programme, often using England internationals to promote important initiatives.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

John Terry set for Fabio Capello showdown after day of of confusion and misinformation
“Following a day of confusion and misinformation over Terry’s intentions — and Capello’s thoughts — the England manager has told the Football Association and his advisers that he will try and reach a decision before he boards a plane to Warsaw on Saturday morning ahead of the Euro 2012 draw the following day.” (Telegraph)

Carlo Ancelotti clears way for John Terry to visit his wife in Dubai
“Carlo Ancelotti has cleared the way for John Terry to take a break from playing for Chelsea by saying that if ‘he needs to have a holiday I will give him holiday’, following allegations about his captain’s private life.” (Guardian)

Capello puts back Terry call for fear of further scandal
“Fabio Capello and his advisers are concerned that further revelations about John Terry this weekend could undermine any decision on him continuing as England captain made before then and are considering delaying an announcement until Sunday at the very least.” (Independent)

The John Terry Moral Conundrum

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“There isn’t much about the recent “tabloid revelations” concerning John Terry that don’t sink the heart somewhat. The allegations, the fact that it was his best friend, the coercion into an abortion, the money; all of it leaves the reader with the pronounced sense that truly we are living in the last days of Rome. It’s difficult to read more than a couple of paragraphs on the subject without starting to feel a little bit grubby and wishing that you were doing something a little bit more worthwhile with your time.” (twohundredpercent)

Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe calls John Terry’s England captaincy into question
“Any hopes Terry might have had that the storm would abate appear misplaced. ‘On the field John Terry is a fantastic player and a good England captain,’ said the Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, ‘but to be the captain of England you have got to have wider responsibilities for the country. If these allegations are proven it does call into question his role as England captain’.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

No one likes a bully, John Terry
“The man in charge of Burnley FC’s public address system clearly has a sense of humour. On Saturday, just before the teams arrived on the pitch for the Premier League game between the local team and Chelsea, he played Bryan Ferry’s version of Let’s Stick Together. As the visiting team were led out by their captain John Terry, the opening line crooned out around the stadium: ‘The marriage vow is very sacred’.” (Telegraph)

A Good Defense Isn’t Enough

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“The old adage about defenses winning championships is starting to look outdated. Across Europe’s leading football leagues right now, the major title contenders have ditched the defensive mindset traditionally associated with success in favor of a new adventurous line of attack, in which teams are far more interested in scoring goals than preventing them. The result has been a deluge of goals that has delighted supporters and sent statisticians scurrying to check the record books.” (WSJ)

Arsenal, AC Milan come charging

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“You can blame the weather, I suppose. England’s deep freeze has wreaked havoc on the Premier League calendar, which is great for U.S.-based fans — there have been midweek (and therefore, mid-day) games galore, like Wednesday’s Liverpool-Tottenham showdown of underachievers. In the meantime, both the FA and Carling Cups have been raging on, and selected other European action — mixed in with some awesome African Cup of Nations games — have made mid-January a smorgasbord of excellent soccer. Plus, with everyone finally off winter break, we can start picking apart the leftovers again. Enjoy this week’s rundown — we recommend you nuke on high for two minutes, flip, then zap for another two minutes on medium.” (SI)