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Monday, September 13, 2010

Reina saves Liverpool from defeat.

If you need any evidence on how a goalkeeper can be the most important player in the team, look no further than Pepe Reina's performance for Liverpool against Birmingham yesterday. Almost single-handedly, Reina saves Liverpool from certain defeat and salvage a point for Roy Hodgson's team. Time after time, he denied Cameron Jerome, Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner to keep a clean sheet at St Andrews.

Reina's performance was definitely the highlight of the match.Barry Ferguson, the Birmingham midfielder paid tribute to the Spaniard. He told Sky Sports after the match,

"He made three or four great saves. I think we deserved to win the game, but the goalkeeper was outstanding.''

While Reina got all the praises, his compatriot Fernando Torres came in for some criticisms after an abject display in the game. He looked out of sorts and more often than not, gave the ball away after poor first touches. His performance tells the story of a player which looks unhappy being at the club.

It is also disappointing to see the great Liverpool name being associated with such a display. This Liverpool team lack quality and more importantly, passion for the game. There were hardly any urgency or creativity in their play. As I said, earlier in the season, this Liverpool team is sadly mediocre and probably would languish at mid table even with master tactician such as Roy Hodgson at the helm> Technorati Tags:
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Houllier confirmed as new Villa boss

According to the Sun, Gerard Houllier has signed a 3 year deal to be the new manager of Aston Villa. He said "It was a very difficult decision to leave the FFF but I could not turn down this opportunity. "Aston Villa is one of England's biggest clubs and has an amazing set of fans. This is a tremendous challenge." Houllier, 63, resigned from his post of technical director with the French Football Federation yesterday to take up the challenge of succeeding Martin O'Neil at Villa Park. The former Liverpool boss resigned as the technical director of the French Football Federation yesterday to take up the post. Houllier, 63, said,

"It was a very difficult decision to leave the FFF but I could not turn down this opportunity. Aston Villa is one of England's biggest clubs and has an amazing set of fans. This is a tremendous challenge." 


The Frenchman first match in charge of the team will be the away trip to the Britannia Stadium for the clash against Stoke City.  It is understood that Houllier is looking to bring his own team to the club which would mean the exit for  current caretaker manager, Kevin McDonald. Names being bandied around as the new number two include Dietmar Hamann and Gary McAllister.  One person who has already declined Houllier's approach is Phil Thompson, the number 2 during his time in Liverpool. Thompson has said he is happy being a TV pundit and does not relist a return to club management. 

Villa is currently fourth in the Premiership table with 2 wins and a loss.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Internationals over, let's get back to business

The international break is finally over and now it's back to the premiership The 2 wins for the English would definitely go a long way towards their 2012 qualification. Fabip's reputation is also in repair so everything's good for national squad. Not much news in the Premiership over the past week with the close of the transfer window and almost two whole weeks between premiership matches. The back pages of the dailies have been consumed by the Rooney scandal, although it doesn't seem to have affected the man at all. He was instrumental in both wins for the national team. Now it's time for him to re-energize his performances for his club which so far this season, has not been that spectacular. This weekend's matches will also see the new recruits from the transfer window getting debuts for their new teams. Players such as Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jermaine Pennant are making a return to the Premiership while Asamoah Gyan will get his first taste of English Football for Sunderland. There are also a number of players who will be turning out for new teams namely William Gallas and Paul Konchelsky. It's going to be a great weekend of footballing action.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The best and the worst of deadline day deals

Now, that the transfer deadline has closed, it is time for the clubs to see how these transfers will have an impact in their premiership season. As compared to the previous transfer window, there were significant more activity on August 31, with some clubs like Stoke and Birmingham bringing in 3 new faces each on deadline day. The only other news about this window is that the Top 5 teams from last season did not make a single move yesterday, happy to have made all that they wanted earlier. Whether this will have an impact on the league table ( such as Arsenal not signing a keeper), only time will tell. Here's my pick for the best and worst of the transfer from deadline day: The Best: Tom Cleverly (Manchester United to Wigan, loan) For me, this is a major coup by Roberto Martinez to grab this highly rated youngster to Wigan. Having seen Tom in action of England U21's there is no doubt that he will be a major star in years to come. Much alike Jack Wilshere's successful loan spell at Bolton last season, Cleverly will surely add much needed quality to a Wigan side who are looking like early contenders for relegation. The Worst: Eidur Gudjohnnsen( Monaco to Stoke, loan) This deal together with that of Jermaine Pennant tells me that Tony Pulis is a desperate man. Having loss the first 3 games this season, he has to show that he is doing something to keep Stoke in the Premiership. However, looking at Gudjohnsen and Pennant, I seriously don't think that they are the type of players that will fit in well at the Britannia. Stoke's gameplay is all about speed and robustness, will plenty of aerial attack through Rory Delap's bombs into the box. Neither Gudjohnsen nor Pennant comes with speed or aerial ability to fit into the strategy. Is Tony Pulis going to change the way Stoke play to accomodate these players? Surely not. And at the reported £90,000 a week salary the Norwegian is on, I certainly worry for them financially and for their Premiership status.
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