Whilst Soke fans must be delighted with the start their side has made to this season’s campaign, dropped points in last week’s fixture against Wigan may still come back to haunt Tony Pulis and his men.
Blackpool have had an extended break after their tussle with Manchester United was called off due to the snow. Their away form has been excellent thus far, and they will certainly fancy themselves to get something at the Britannia.
The Seasiders have been boosted by Derby County’s insistence this week that they do not want in form Luke Varney to return to Pride Park when his initial six-month loan spell expires in January.
I can see a rested Blackpool side grabbing some early festive merriment this weekend and taking a point from Stoke as both sides gear up for some challenging assignments in the coming weeks.
Prediction: 1-1
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Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton have announced the signing of Barnsley winger Adam Hammill.
Hammill, 22, has joined the Molineux outfit for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half year contract.
The former Liverpool trainee could make his Wolves debut on Saturday against his old team and spoke of his happiness to sign with Mick McCarthy’s side.
“Wolves are a massive club and I’m pleased to be getting the chance to try and play Premier League football,” Hammill told the club’s website.
“I think my ambitions go hand in hand with the club’s.”
The winger also spoke of his admiration for manager McCarthy, who he says will suit his playing style.
“I’ve spoken to Mick and am looking forward to meeting him,” he said.
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“I’ve heard he’s honest and will tell you things you don’t want to hear at times but he’s straight down the middle and fair which is what everyone wants as a player.”
Hammill, who was also linked with a move to West Ham and Blackpool, has scored eight goals in 25 appearances for Barnsley.
A decent week for Arsenal sees three wins and the North Londoners strengthening their quest for honours on four fronts. Samir Nasri reckons the Gunners can win the lot, although I am sure most Arsenal supporters would settle for just one.
At FFC we have seen a mixed bag of articles which includes Arsenal move hijacked? Theo Walcott’s stats paint a different picture, while a loan move could kick-start Arsenal striker’s career.
We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week.
The TEN worst pundits in the English football?
Why aren’t Fergie and Wenger busting a gut to sign him?
Starting to become Arsenal’s Mr Indispensable?
If Premier League clubs were musical artists – PART One
Theo Walcott’s stats paint a very different picture
Loan move to kick start Arsenal star’s faltering career?
Manchester v London – where does the future of the Premier League lie?
Arsenal or Liverpool – who represents the best move for ‘boy wonder’?
FIVE Impossible Things I Want To See At Arsenal This Year
Arsenal move set to be hijacked
The Top TEN Premier League Games of the 90s…well I think so!
*Best of Web*
Denilson OUT!! Is Wenger fibbing again and Theo’s in for some stick! – Highbury House
Arsenal to sign Cahill? In your dreams, guess who it will kill?- Le Grove
Carry On Regardless – A Cultured Left Foot
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Denilson blasts Fabregas leadership, but does he have a point? – Gunnersphere
EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal Brasil interview Denilson – Arseblog
One transfer confirmed, could this mean our own transfer window is about to open? – Highbury House
Fernando Torres believes he has now arrived at one of the top clubs in Europe after his record-breaking transfer from Liverpool to Chelsea.
Torres joined English Premier League champions Chelsea 50 million pounds on Monday – a record fee for a British transfer.
The Spain international, believed to be unsettled after Liverpool’s failure to secure Champions League qualification last season, handed in a transfer request on Friday.
The 26-year-old was allowed to leave after Chelsea increased their original offer to meet the minimum-fee release clause in the striker’s contract.
He will be eligible to play for Chelsea in the Champions League knock-out stages after only appearing in the Europa League with Liverpool earlier in the season.
“This is the target for every footballer – to try to play for one of the top clubs in the world,” Torres said.
“They (Chelsea) are one of the biggest teams in Europe and are always fighting for everything.”
“I’m so happy and proud to be here.”
“It’s been two, three, four very hard days for me. I’m really happy – this is a great club. I’m prepared and ready for the challenge.”
“I know there are many great players here and I will work hard to win a place in the team.”
“I am looking forward very much to helping my new team-mates this season and for many years to come.”
“It’s my dream to win the Champions League and I’m sure I can, playing for Chelsea.”
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Torres, who will compete with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka for a place in the Chelsea attack, was full of praise for his new colleagues.
“I am a big fan of all of the Chelsea strikers,” he said.
“When I was very young I remember Anelka was playing for Arsenal. Obviously Drogba is the best striker in the world by far.”
“It is a big responsibility for me to play alongside them because the level they have is so high.”
AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri insists his side must maintain their focus if they are to claim their first Serie A title since 2004.
Allegri’s side head to Genoa on Sunday five points clear of second-placed Napoli and seven ahead of bitter rivals Inter Milan, who have a game in hand, and the coach has no doubts it will be a tough road trip for his squad.
“We are all concentrating as we know that tomorrow (Sunday) we’ll be facing an aggressive team, who will try to stop us playing,” Allegri said.
“They’re very good at doing this at home, therefore we should concentrate and put in a good performance from a technical point of view.”
Allegri insisted the form of Milan’s fellow title contenders meant his side could not relax for a second in the run home.
“The championship is starting its most important phase. We know that the championship won’t be ending on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday,” he said.
“There are still 15 matches and we have to win most of them in order to win the championship. We should be able to keep the balance as we have done so far.”
“We were aware that Inter Milan would be able to compete for the championship, as well as Roma and Napoli, who remains one of the competitors even if they lost against Chievo.”
“We should be focused on what we’re doing without thinking about other teams, since the points we have now are not enough to win the championship.”
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And the coach defended out-of-form striker Alexandre Pato, who has endured speculation in recent days over his future at the San Siro.
“I have Pato, I’m happy to have Pato and I want to keep Pato. There are no doubts on this. In the end I think he’ll get back to full fitness and prove to be an important player AC Milan,” he said.
Juventus manager Gigi Delneri slammed his players as “arrogant and without excuses” after their shock 2-0 loss at Lecce on Sunday.”We got the wrong approach from the start,” Delneri said.Juve’s cause was hampered by the red card shown to goalkeeper Gigi Buffon in the 12th minute but Delneri had no excuses.”The team was very arrogant. This is a defeat that should make us think carefully, as we should’ve been more intense and taken charge.””Lecce were always first to the ball and we deserved to lose. In fact, we’re lucky it only ended 2-0.” “We are unable to face supposedly ‘easy’ games with the right concentration.””Now our objectives seem a long way away. We cannot afford any more mistakes.””It’s a shame, as we were on the right path, but today we had no excuses for this performance.”Lecce coach Gigi De Canio was in the stands serving a touchline ban but assistant manager Roberto Rizzo found their win “beyond all expectations.””We played a good game and the lads believed in the result throughout the week,” Rizzo said.”We went beyond all expectations, even the rosiest outlook. Juve suffer a bit when hit with pace, so we have David Di Michele who is exceptional at that kind of work.””We prepared for the match with that thought in mind.”
Championship leaders Queens Park Rangers could be deducted points after they were charged for seven breaches of Football Association rules.The Loftus Road club were charged with breaching FA third-party ownership and agent rules relating to the transfer of Argentine midfielder Alejandro Faurlin, who was signed from Institute FC in July 2009.It is alleged that as part of Faurlin’s 3.5 million pound move, an unnamed third-party kept a stake in his economic rights and the FA were not notified.The charges also included making payments to an unauthorised agent and providing false information and documents to the FA.Faurlin’s contract extension, signed in October 2010 is also under investigation.If QPR are found guilty, the club could suffer serious ramifications with a points deduction a very real possibility.Neil Warnock’s side currently top the Championship by seven points and any deduction could prove crucial in the end-of-season promotion race.But QPR are confident they have not done anything wrong and released a short statement on Wednesday.”Having co-operated fully with the FA’s investigation, QPR and Mr Paladini shall be denying all of the charges and requesting a formal FA hearing to determine them,” the statement read.”QPR and Mr Paladini are confident that there has been no deliberate wrongdoing involved.”
Whether Liverpool ‘keeper Pepe Reina goes or not at the end of the season, I would like to say for the record that he is a world class keeper and he would be sorely missed if he ever was to leave. Certainly there is no real evidence that Pepe wants to leave the club but with the past incident of Fernando Torres taken into consideration, nothing is certain in football, and Pepe could well be angling for the new owners to make their mark in the transfer market with his comments in a recent Guardian interview and on Spanish radio, or he may be uncertain about his future.
In any case, no matter the reality of the situation, the old adage of “no is bigger than the club” holds true here and many Reds fan will sight this saying if any of our big players ever decide to leave. Bearing in mind all these uncertainties at modern football clubs though, I think it would be foolish if we are to assume the Reds have not considered viable replacements if Reina decided to leave. Below I have listed the 5 goalkeepers I think should be the standby options if the Spaniard departs:
David De Gea – Although the youngest goalkeeper on the list, I believe De Gea also has the greatest potential. Still only 20, he broke into the Atletico Madrid first team mid way through last season after manager Quique Sanchez Flores finally lost patience with Sergio Asenjo after some high profile, costly errors. He was instrumental in Atletico’s Europa League win last season, and also was praised for his shot stopping abilities with man of the match performances against Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. He has been more inconsistent this season however, and after only having the number 1 for little over a year, it must be said he could go through a patch of bad form and lose his confidence altogether. In this light, without greater first team experience, he maybe a risk if he was chosen as the Reds’ first choice replacement for Reina. Rating: 8/10
Hugo Lloris – France’s international first choice goalkeeper, Lloris is supremely talented and at 24 years of age, he will only improve as a keeper. The fact that he is been playing first team football regularly for five years for both Nice and Lyon, also adds to his positive aspects. Again though, like all the keepers on this list, he is not perfect. Lloris does have problems dealing with crosses and especially corner kicks. In addition he made a big goalkeeping error playing for France against South Africa in the last summer’s World Cup. Lloris is however a great shot stopper, and has even captained France when they faced England Wembley back in November. Probably would be my first choice if Reina left. Rating: 9/10
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Igor Akinfeev – I think it is fair to say that only Iker Casillas had more experience as Akinfeev has at 24 years of age. The Russian keeper made his debut for CSKA Moscow aged 17 and now has nearly 300 appearances to his name for the Russian club. In addition, he has won a UEFA Cup, two Russian League titles and has appeared in the Champions League during this time, while also being named the club’s captain. At international level, he has 47 caps for his country after making his debut aged just 18, and was part of the Russian side that finished 3rd at Euro 2008. The only concern is that he has yet to play in a top European league and dealt with the physicality of a division such as the Premier League. Rating: 8/10
Maarten Stekelenburg – The Dutch goalkeeper had an excellent World Cup last summer. He made a number of crucial saves during the tournament to keep the Netherlands on course for the final. His most notable one came from Kaka in the quarter final against Brazil and he only conceded six goals all tournament behind the Dutch team’s tight defence. At 28 years old, he is the oldest on the list and the reason why he hasn’t come to prominence earlier is because of his inconsistent form. He was Ajax’s player of the year in the 2007/08 campaign but became second choice in the following season after a string of poor performances. He returned to form last season to become Holland’s number one, and although he would be probably the cheapest option on the list, he may not be the best option. Rating: 7/10
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Manuel Neuer – He maybe Germany’s current number one goalkeeper, but Neuer only really came to the fore at the back end of 2009. He had been tipped by many to become Jen Lehmann’s successor as the national team’s number one after he made his debut in 2006, but it took the death of Robert Enke in November 2009 and a rib injury to Leverkusen’s Rene Adler for Neuer to become first choice in Joachim Low’s team. He was selected ahead of Tim Wiese and Hans-Jorg Butt in the 2010 World Cup and performed well in the tournament, with many tipping him to replace Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United. Neuer can be somewhat of a erratic goalkeeper though and many see him moving to Bayern Munich rather than moving to England. Rating: 7/10
Read more of David’s articles at the excellent Live4Liverpool
Brazilian giants Corinthians reclaimed top spot on the Campeonato Paulista table with a win over Oeste on Wednesday, while Sao Paulo tumbled.Sao Paolo fell from first to third with a 3-2 loss to Paulista, allowing Corinthians to leapfrog them with a crushing 3-0 win at home to Oeste.
Midfielder Paulinho put Corinthians ahead with a goal on 35 minutes, and Portuguese striker Liedson improved his season tally to 10 – tying with Santos striker Elano for the league lead – four minutes after the break.
Liedson’s strike partner Dentinho got in on the act in the 73rd minute, notching Corinthians’ third goal to push the club two points clear of Palmeiras and into an outright lead on the table.
Sao Paolo, meanwhile, had their run of four straight wins in the Brazilian league halted by a dominant Paulista, who took the lead inside the first minute through Fabiano Viera.
Young defender Welder nabbed his first goal in the Paulista shirt in the 37th minute as the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the break.
Sao Paolo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni drew the visitors within a goal after converting a penalty in the 52nd minute, but Vanderlai restored Paulista’s two-goal advantage three minutes later.
Dagoberto narrowed the margin once more for Sao Paolo in the 70th minute but the visitors ultimately fell short.
In other results, Palmeiras jumped to second on the table with a 3-0 win over visiting Linense that owed much to 20-year-old striker Patrick’s brace.
Santos rebounded from a loss at Bragantino at the weekend to defeat Mogi Mirim 3-1, while Mirassol’s run of three straight losses came to an end with a 2-0 result over Americana.
Bragantino fell 2-0 at Sao Caetano, bottom-placed Gremio Prudente fought out a 2-2 draw at Noroeste and Santo Andre held Portuguesa to a goal-less stalemate.
Liverpool owner John W Henry has criticised Tom Hicks and George Gillett for leaving a huge wage bill and a thin squad in their wake.Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (FSG) acquired the English Premier League side in October, after the Liverpool board approved the 300-million-pound sale against the wishes of Hicks and Gillett.
Henry has launched an attack on the former owners, saying he was shocked at the glaring disparity between Liverpool’s expenditure and the quality of its roster after taking over from the unpopular American pair.
“The worst surprise was the lack of depth in the squad,” Henry told Four Four Two magazine.
“Our biggest concern in taking on this responsibility was this issue and it was a bigger issue than we feared.”
“There was a huge multi-year payroll for a squad that had very little quality depth.”
Henry has since presided over the 50-million-pound transfer of Fernando Torres to Chelsea, money that was used to secure strikers Andy Carroll from Newcastle United and Luiz Suarez from Ajax.
The American, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, is confident he will oversee the first Premier League title at Anfield since the 1989-90 campaign.
“Our number one priority is to win the Premier League title,” Henry said.
“That is what we take with us each day to work as the force that drives us to excel.”
“If we can accomplish that we will have put ourselves in a position to be successful on all fronts, including Europe.”
“Success is winning championships. It is nothing less than that. And when you win a championship – and we will – success isn’t measured or accomplished by winning once.”
The spending is expected to continue in the off-season, with the likes of Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and Charlie Adam all believed to be on Henry’s shopping list.