Archive for August, 2008

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Diouf: Cisse might be transferred to the Stadium of Light

August 21st, 2008

Djibril Cisse, former Liverpool forward, has agreed for joining Sunderland from his current club Marseille.

Sunderland, which is currently managed by Roy Keane, is on the brink of signing a loan deal for Cisse. They have reached an agreement with the French Club for their forward.

The future of this talented France International has been a subject of discussion for most part of this summer. There have been a number of sides from Premier League gunning for the player and the recent development suggest that he might end up playing at the Stadium of Light.

According to Pape Diouf, OM president, it is almost certain that the striker will move to play for Black Cats.

According to an announcement made on om.net, Diouf has said that agreement has been finalized between the two clubs for Cisse’s loan. This deal will allow the striker to play for Sunderland till the end of this year.

The French striker made his way into the Mediterranean club after a transfer from Liverpool last summer. Before the transfer, the 26-year old striker had already spent 6 months on loan with the French club

Cisse was not in the starting lineup of OM during their 4-0 annihilation of Auxerre.

Even though he had an indifferent time at Anfield, the player wants to go back and prove his critics wrong. Amongst other English clubs, he was also linked with Manchester City and Portsmouth.

If Cisse does get a chance in Sunderland, then Roy Keane’s club will be the one to watch out for this season.

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Silvestre joins Arsenal for an undisclosed fee

August 21st, 2008

After a lot of speculation, Arsenal has successfully completed the transfer of Mikael Silvestre from Manchester United for a fee, which is still undisclosed.

31-year-old defender, who was out of action for most part of the previous season after damaging his knee ligament, has been reported to agree with a 2-year deal at Emirates Stadium after serving 9 years in Old Trafford.

There were rumors in the previous season of the Frenchmen of shifting to Manchester City or Bordeaux, as his contract was about to expire. However, he eventually went for the North London side, which was his choice from the very beginning.

With Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic forming a first choice partnership for the Red Devils, Silvestre was having tough time holding a position in the playing eleven. Again with John O’Shea & Wes Brown renewing their contract and Patrick Evra playing wonderfully in the left-back, only a miracle could have earned him a spot in the first team.

With this transfer, Silvestre became only the second player to leave the Old Trafford club and join their rivals in Premier League after Brian Kidd 3 decades ago.

Lately, Wenger has been reluctant to offer contract to players over 30 years and this move for the France International, who has played 40 games for his side, has taken everyone by surprise.

After an uncharacteristic move from Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger said that there was a need for Silvestre in the Gunners Ranks with his side lacking the needed experience in the defense.

Meanwhile, Gunners would be looking for continuing their clean sheet in the coming weeks following their 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates Stadium.

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Posted in Arsenal, Football Transfer Market

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Liverpool may stop chasing for Barry

August 20th, 2008

Although the Reds beat Sunderland 1-0 in their opening game of the season, their coach, Rafael Benitez, did not seem to be ecstatic. Still, most experts felt that it was a good game and Liverpool players did well to keep a clean sheet to start with.

Now Liverpool has 3 points to their name after the win and will be looking for the next game in hand.

The only concern for the coach could be that the team should have performed much aggressive football against Sunderland. According to reports, he was seemingly unhappy about the way his team is going.

Meanwhile, it seems that the hopes of Benitez to get Barry would be put back onto the shelves for another season because the owners do not seem too eager to proceed.

It has been confirmed that the owners of the Liverpool Football Club, George Gillet and Tom Hicks, have made it clear to coach Benitez that there would be no more of chasing Barry.

Gillet and Hicks are saying that that the price for Barry is too high. They seem adamant of not sanctioning the amount Aston Villa is asking for.

Moreover, the owners further stressed that there was absolutely no need for selling Alonso, whose hopes relied more on this deal than anything else. Maybe now it is a good time for Alonso to prove the club owners right.

Benitez, who had been in hot pursuit of Barry throughout the summer, was looking to obtain a versatile player, who could switch positions in between the midfield and defense. Having his plans thwarted, maybe he would try his luck somewhere else.

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Arsenal looking for a new midfielder before transfer window closes

August 20th, 2008

Arsenal has set up a target to get a midfielder before the end of this transfer season to further revitalize the squad.

With star player Cesc Fabregas out on the grounds of a hamstring injury, which will not enable him to be back before the club’s second leg UEFA Champions League match against FC Twente, the midfield is once again set to be a keen discussion topic among various football specialists.

Possible targets for a midfield slot within the BPL include Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso and Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry amongst others.

Another young gun, Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler, 8 million pound rated star, currently at Udinese may very well be the answer to this question.

The Gunners won their opening match of the Barclays Premier League against West Brom on Sunday, and the club would be looking to carry their form when they go to Fulham this weekend.

In the mean time, Arsenal have successfully extended Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor’s contract, extending it possibly up to 2012. This new deal will enable the striker to earn in the range of 160,000 pounds per week.

While most parts of the Arsenal faithful have given a mixed reaction to this new deal, manager Arsene Wenger has said that in any case Adebayor is an important part of the squad.

Wenger said that the striker needs to be backed fully by the fans, as ‘every player needs to feel wanted’. According to him, the striker’s contribution in the last two games is considerable by all standards.

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Posted in Arsenal, Premier League

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Newcastle in full flow after a spirited performance at Old Trafford

August 19th, 2008

Yesterday, Newcastle United, who have known to be lacking both quantity and quality grounds on talented players, did just what the club is famous for since the last 100 years: Making life uncomfortable for the best of teams on their day!

The way the Magpies played against Red Devils made everyone forget that this is team, who according to football pundits were sure to be around relegation this season, leave alone a talk of archrivals Sunderland being talked of staying at the top under their manager Roy Keane.

This performance, which saw a 1-1 draw in the end at Old Trafford against current Champions Manchester United, reminded everyone of the Newcastle team, which finished second in the Premier League in 1996 season.

A bullet like header by Martins set up the first goal of this season for them and a first touch like this can produce many more lethal goals in coming games. The St. James Park side will be next playing against Bolton in this weekend.

Shay Given did exactly what he has been so good at since all those years: being a wall in front of the goal.

The way newcomers Fabio Colocinni and Jonas Gutierrez played, they seemed to have been a part of this squad for years.

Colocinni and Taylor seem to be the center back pair for this season, thanks to the right transfer sense of King Kev!

Newcastle Manager Kevin Keegan, who was all praise for his side, in his style announced that his side is back in the reckoning for big gold in the current season.

If this is what the Toon will be performing at the start of the season, we can all wonder what they will do when Michael Owen and Mark Viduka comeback in action at the club.

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Posted in Newcastle United, Premier League

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Manchester United gets sponsorship from Saudi Telecom

August 19th, 2008

In one of the latest business developments, top English football club Manchester United is reported to have signed a sponsorship deal for a period of five years with one of the leading telecommunications giants, Saudi Telecom.

Saudi Telecom got the exclusive rights to all mobile phone content within the territory of Saudi Arabia after they signed the deal, which is considered to be a multi-million pound agreement with Manchester United.

This new business agreement has made way in building a close and healthy relationship between United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, which got a boost earlier this year in January when Manchester United’s coach Sir Alex Ferguson took his full squad there.

In a statement, Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill mentioned about the immense passion Saudi fans has for the Red Devils. This passion was demonstrated during a match, in which Manchester United played a match in January this year in Riyadh.

He also hoped that this step of groundbreaking partnership will help to bring the action of the Red Devils directly to thousands of football fans in Saudi Arabia.

After gaining the official access to an estimated 15 million subscriber base of Saudi Telecom, Manchester United believes to build more on their existing large fan base in the gulf region.

The capability of signing such a huge business contract, which doesn’t count for anything to do with the shirt sponsorship, proves and emphasizes further about the increasing huge global appeal that Manchester United have.

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson seemed less worried about the performance of his side in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle United. His confidence is giving an indication that his side will deliver what they did during the previous season and win the Championships, even after a slow start.

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Posted in Man U, Premier League

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Manchester United Vs Newcastle United: Champions start off with a tame draw

August 18th, 2008

Manchester United, the current Premier League Champions, began their title defense in an unlikely tame fashion when they were held 1-1 by Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

But the coach of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson is most unlikely to get too much stressed for his side losing two points in this year’s opener of the BPL.

It may be noted that in last year, Manchester United only managed to collect two points from their first three games although they finished top in the end.

Ferguson ended the match by making Patrice Evra providing valuable support for Wayne Rooney from the up front after midfielder Darren Fletcher equalized Newcastle’s Obafemi Martins’ opener.

Newcastle showed extreme excellence on the field was courtesy of their new Argentinean player, Jonas Gutierrez. He created several problems for the hosts and at one time, Manchester United went into an uncharacteristic defensive mood.

At one stage of the match, TV replays showed that that Jonas Gutierrez claimed for an invalid penalty after he was totally flattened by Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic, but it was well noticed that the former Real Mallorca player was positioned well outside the box.

Manchester United should claim no excuse as they failed to track Martins when he leapt alone to receive James Milner’s corner kick and deflected it with enough power sending it past Paul Scholes to score the opener for Newcastle.

The lead for Newcastle lasted, however, lasted just two minutes when Fletcher stole a quick chance to steer a ball of Giggs and helped the host to salvage a draw.

Meanwhile at Villa Park, Manchester City was crushed by Aston Villa 4-2, as England U-21 International, Agbonlahor, scored a hat-trick for the home side.

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Chelsea Vs Portsmouth: Scolari’s Brazilian flair helps The Blues thrash Pompey 4-0

August 18th, 2008

Chelsea came out all guns blazing in their first game of the new season, as they won 4-0 against a Portsmouth side that seemed to have had lost its bearings completely in a goal fest. This game announced the arrival of Luiz Filipe Scolari, the revival of Frank Lampard and the debut of playmaker Deco.

The scoring started as early as in the 12th minute, when Joe Cole scored a brilliant goal to set the home crowd dancing and cheering on their feet.

The second goal came from the only senior striker available in Stamford Bridge Side at the moment, when Nicholas Anelka found the goal with his nearly perfect header to a cross from full back Jose Bosingwa.

Just when the first half was to end, a cross from Cole was ‘hand balled’ by Pompey defender Distin. When Frank Lampard was about to take the spot kick, Portsmouth keeper David James witnessed the only booking of the match, a yellow card for kicking the ball. Nevertheless, Lampard scored from the spot, as the crowd went louder.

Peter Crouch failed to impress with his play and understanding with Jermain Defoe.

Barring some forced saves from Peter Cech and a great block of a Niko Kranjcar’s shot by Ricardo Carvalho, Chelsea were driving without any breaks from the start and a crisp finish by Deco in the 89th minute brought the game to a 4-0 finish for the home side.

Meanwhile, Manchester United lack the flair shown by the London Club and were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle in Old Trafford. Another match saw a hat-trick from Agbonlahor, England U-21 International, as Aston Villa came on top against Manchester City 4-2 at Villa Park.

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Liverpool Vs Sunderland: Reds scrap a 1-0 win against Black Cats

August 17th, 2008

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has finally got a reason to smile following the miserable UEFA qualifier draw to Standard Liege on Wednesday. Liverpool registered an away defeat in their very first game of the season against a Roy Keane led Sunderland in the Stadium of Light.

Liverpool started with their new 20 million signing Robbie Keane among others like Jamie Carragher, Steve Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt. However, the former Tottenham man was rarely a help in the attack.

The Reds were shocked by the way Sunderland played the first half, when the home fans were witnessing an attacking game of football from their side.

Sunderland had four debuts in El-Hadji Diouf, Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda and Steed Malbranque, all four of whom tried to make a quick impression in the match.

In the 13th minute, Diouf made a stunning cross to Daryl Murphy, who headed the ball straight to the Reds’ goalie Reina.

Among others, Malbranque was also quite eager to contribute in the game.

After a goalless first half, Xabi Alonso was brought in at the start of the second one, and he almost scored from the opposite half of the ground when his strike was just off-target.

The game finally got into the Reds’ hands when Keane was substituted by El Zhar in the 77th minute.

After an attacking game of football the Spanish forward, Fernando Torres scored after 5 minutes of Keane’s substitution, much to the amusement of the away team’s supporters, which was the only goal in the match and helped the Anfield side to register a win.

Meanwhile, Hull City won their first ever Premiership match against a Fulham side with an impressive 2-1 score. However, newcomers Stoke city failed to impress, as they lost 1-3 to Bolton Wanderers.

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Arsenal Vs West Bromwich Albion: Nasri scores in Gunners 1-0 win over Baggies

August 17th, 2008

Although the score line of 1-0 might not suggest the events at the game, but Arsenal Vs West Brom at the Emirates Stadium was completely dominated by The Gunners.

With the likes of Frenchmen, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, playing in the first eleven, it was expected that the London Club will be coming with all guns firing at West Bromwich Albion and the home team did not disappoint.

With the US$ 24 million, Nasri, signing scoring just after 4 minutes of the start, it was expected that the home team will run away with the game in the very first half. However, a string of shots going past the goal post and some crucial saves by Scott Carson, avoided the inevitable.

The formidable show of The Gunners was evident with the fact that their opponents, who were winners of the Coca Cola Championships in the previous season, only had one shot at the goal when Do Heon Kim tried to go past Alumina.

The Baggies could have equalized in the second half, as they played attackingly, which eluded their game in the first half. However, the defense of the Gunners and guiles of Alumina were too much to handle for West Brom, who showed signs of nervousness in their first game in the Premier League.

Arsenal too made attempts on the back of shots from William Gallas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Theo Walcott and Rob Van Persie. However, all of them were unlucky in their attempts.

Meanwhile, elsewhere Everton drew 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers in Goodison Park and Tottenham had a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough.

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Posted in Arsenal, Premier League

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