Archive for the ‘Premiership’ Category
Are Arsenal the real deal?
I’m sure most people expected Arsenal to beat Porto in the Champions League - the Portuguese side have an awful record in England after all. However, the manner of the 5-0 victory, achieved without talisman Cesc Fabregas, should force people to sit up and take notice.
Arsenal put in a sparkling performance against the 2004 European Champions, dominating pretty much from start to finish. Nicklas Bendtner will no doubt take most of the headlines with a face-saving hat-trick going some way towards making up for his horror show against Burnley at the weekend.
But credit also has to go to the two chief architects, Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin, whose probing midfield runs were instrumental in the victory and eased the pain of being without captain Fabregas.
The win caps off a satisfying few weeks for Arsene Wenger, whose side are visibly growing in confidence. Following last Saturday’s win over Burnley they will firmly believe they can take advantage of their favourable fixture list and win their first Premier league title since 2004.
After the Porto result what is stopping them going all the way in the Champions League as well?
Wenger himself has admitted he would relish the chance to avenge their heavy league defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United should they be drawn together in the next round.
Personally I feel the Champions League is a step too far. The Gunners have shown already they struggle against the top sides in the Premier league and I feel that when up against a similar side in the Europe they will fall just short. The Champions League football betting certainly suggests this will be the case.
The momentum is definitely with them in the league, however. Their win at Stoke the weekend before last was celebrated with extra vigour, not just because it was in response to Aaron Ramsey’s shocking injury but because it was seen as a rare banana skin in what is a dream of a run-in fixture list.
Local rivals Spurs and fellow fourth place chasers Man City are the only other major hiccups remaining for the Gunners and if the past few games are to go by, they shouldn’t present a problem. If this proves to be the case, then the title could be heading to Arsenal’s new Emirates Stadium for the very first time.
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Bendtner will be hoping he can hit form in time for the World Cup.
He will be representing Denmark and while the side are unlikely to be many people’s World Cup 2010 tips they could still cause an upset.
Tags: Andrey Arshavin, Banana Skin, Burnley, Cesc Fabregas, Champions League Football, Chasers, Chief Architects, European Champions, First Premier, Fixture List, Going All The Way, Gunners, Hat Trick, Horror Show, Last Saturday, Man City, Midfield, Nasri, Vigour, Wenger
Champions League play-offs not the answer
So the Premier League has come up with its latest great idea to even up the growing disparity in the English top flight. The Premier League top four is now such an elite club, something must be done about it. Well that’s what they are saying anyway.
The play-off system for the final Champions League place, which would feature the
sides finishing from fourth to seventh, sounds quite exciting on paper but the
timing of the announcement fills me with cynicism. After all it comes around two years after Richard Scudamore proposed the now infamous 39th game, matches which would have been played in venues across the globe. That was unceremoniously booted out by FIFA and criticised by the fans. But it is now obvious Scudamore and co have been thinking of money making alternatives ever since.
Cue the play-off idea.
We would get between six and eight extra high stakes games, with all the TV and sponsorship money that entails. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if these games were played abroad in Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney and New York - thereby sneaking in the 39th game idea in after all.
This blatant money-making is what annoys me about the modern game and the people who run it. This idea isn’t about levelling up the league, it’s about exploiting the fans for more cash. It is all the evidence you need to prove the game has lost touch with the fans who kept it going for more than 100 years. If they want to level out the league, why not re-distribute the TV money? Oh no, because that would see the big four giving up some of their cash.
Why not reduce the number of teams in the Champions League to two? The idea that a side finishing fourth in its division should compete in the ‘Champions’ League is ludicrous anyway. The competition should be a reward for real success. This in turn would strengthen the Europa League which would be open to the winners of the two cups and two extra spots in the league. With better teams in the competition, the TV
money would increase but it would be distributed more fairly. Unfortunately it all sounds a little too sensible to ever happen, and the Premier League worldwide tour could be coming to a city near you very soon.
Meanwhile, the football betting makes Manchester United 5/1 shots to win this year’s Champions League after they defeated Milan 3-2 in the first leg of their tie last night.
Tags: 100 Years, Bangkok, Criticised, Cue, Cynicism, Disparity, Elite Club, Fifa, Final Champions League, Game Idea, Globe, High Stakes, Levelling, Play Offs, Premier League, Scudamore, Singapore, Sponsorship Money, Top Flight, Tv Money
2009-10 Liverpool tracksuits
We have just taken delivery of the new Liverpool presentation tracksuits for the 2009-10 season and they are available in all kids and adult sizes.
Liverpool finished 2nd in the league last season but haven’t had the best of starts this season , however there is still a long way to go and they look to be turning the corner and will most likely be there or there abouts come the end of the season. You can buy the Liverpool tracksuits online.
The Liverpool kids tracksuit is priced at £75 and the Liverpool adult tracksuit is priced at £79.99.
Tags: Adult Sizes, Liverpool, Presentation, Tracksuit
2009-10 QPR home football shirt
We have just taken delivery of the new QPR home football shirt in all adult sizes.
QPR are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world with their billionaire owners but even with this it doesn’t mean that they can just walk into the Premiership as they finished 11th in the Championship last season.You can buy the QPR football kit online.
The shirt is priced at £39.99 and is available for immediate dispatch. Click here to buy the new QPR home shirt.
Tags: Adult Sizes, Billionaire, Football Kit, Football Shirt, Home Football, Premiership, Qpr Football
NEW Shirts from Porto, Birmingham & Liverpool
Tags: Adult Training, Allweather, Birmingham Football, Bright Orange, Cup Of Tea, Football Shirts, Hoody, Liverpool, Nike, Phantom, Polo Shirt, Porto Football, Presentation, Printing Style, Rennes, Shirt Printing, Socks, Tee Black, Warmup Suit, Windbreaker