Saturday, October 30, 2010

Almost Draw, but It's a Win

Arsenal almost got a 0-0 draw, but a late goal scored by Alexandr Song Billong made them earn three points in the match against West Ham United

Arsenal was dominating the game, having possession, making passes, and creating chances. But West Ham was defending very well, and Robert Green was playing like possessed. He denying chances, not only once, twice, or three times, but nine times!

When everyone was thinking it would be a 0-0 draw, Gael Clichy cut inside through the left flank and gave a lovely pass to Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner. It was Alex Song who headed the ball and scored the goal. A priceless goal, which keep Arsenal in the title race. It wasn't an easy game, even could be said it was a very tough game. But, in the end Arsenal could overcome it.

In other place, Chelsea won 2 goals by one goal against Blackburn. So it's still 5 points between Arsenal and Chelsea.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

City - Arsenal 0-3

In the beginning Arsenal was under pressure. City dominated the game, and David Silva had a chance to score, but Fabianski denied it.Deryck Boyata sent off by Mark Clattenburg, after a professional foul, brought Chamakh down. Even Manchester City is playing with ten man, the game was still even. Both team made some inaccurate passes. But it was Arsenal who opened the score. One-two play by Nasri and Arshavin, nicely finished by Nasri, 1-0 for Arsenal. Arsenal would've leading 2-0 on first half, if Joe Hart hadn't saved Fabregas' penalty. So first half ended 0-1.

On the second half, Man. City had some chances to equalize, but Fabianski brilliantly denied it. Alex Song doubled Arsenal's lead, and since that time, Arsenal comfortably controlling the game. Finally, Nicklas Bendtner made it 0-3 after few minutes coming in.

It was a good game by the gunners, they played well, offensively and defensively, even they helped with the red card. But at least, Arsenal has answered the critics for them. Should this form continues, Arsenal will be real contenders for Chelsea.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Real Test

Arsenal is now on the third position in English Premier League with 14 points from 8 games, 3 points behind Manchester City and also 5 points behind defending champions Chelsea.

Arsenal will face Manchester City this week on City of Manchester Stadium, this weekend. This match is an undoubtedly tough match. City has bunch of quality players, such as Nigel de Jong, Carlos Tevez, and Arsenal's hatred Emmanuel Adebayor. Roughly, City, like Chelsea, is physically stronger than Arsenal, but Arsenal technically better.

While Fabregas and Walcott are back, Vermaelen and van Persie are still on the sidelines, facing injuries they got during international games. Jack Wilshere is also absent because of red card he got during the match against Birmingham City.

Arsenal did lose 2-4 in City of Manchester Stadium last season, but they still has chance to win this game. What Arsenal has to do is to score an early goal. This season, Arsenal never lose any game after scoring first. So, I predicted, the team who score an early goal will win this game.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Fabianski could replace Almunia?

Manuel Rivero Almunia took Arsenal's regular position in Goalkeeper in 2007/2008, when he filled Jens Lehmann's position, when Lehmann was injured, and played fairly well, and since then, Manuel Almunia has been no 1 for Arsenal, which also resulting Jens Lehmann to be freely released to VfB Stuttgart.

Almunia is rather inconsistent, sometimes, he could play very well, stopping penalties, like he did against Tottenham, which ended 2-1, or against West Ham, which ended 2-0.

But he also could play badly, like he did against Birmingham, when he slipped Kevin Phillip's shot into his own net, or recently, like he did against West Brom.


This season, before the season started, Arsene Wenger reported want to sign a goalkeeper to replace Manuel Almunia. From Shay Given, Marteen Stekelenburg, and also Mark Schwarzer; but until the end of transfer window, Arsene Wenger didn't sign any goalkeeper, and Manuel Almunia still became Arsenal's no 1, because his deputies, Lukasz FabianskI and Vito Mannone, made several mistakes when Arsene Wenger believed them to stand in front of goal.



Manuel Almunia

Well, Manuel Almunia is injured now, and Fabianski have to fill his position. Fabianski was highly doubted he could play well, but in the match against Partizan, he showed who he really is. He stopped one penalty, and made strings of fine save.

If Fabianski continue playing like that, Manuel Almunia could be switched to the bench, and he gains first team football regularly. Could Fabianski continue his brilliance? The first test is today, facing Chelsea!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Arsenal - Liverpool 1-1..

Arsenal were held 1-1 by Liverpool on the Anfield. N'Gog capitalized Arsenal's poor defending, while Pepe Reina's own goal saved Arsenal from the defeat on Arsenal's first match.

First half was Arsenal's game, they were controlling the match, passing well, even they didn't have much chances, it would probably the matter of time, until Arsenal score a goal.

Joe Cole was red carded for tackling Laurent Koscielny in the end of first half, and it means 11 against 10 for Arsenal. But on the beginning of second half, it was not Arsenal who took the lead, but Liverpool. Arsenal defended very poorly, Nasri giving the ball to Liverpool's side.

Well, after leading 1-0, Arsenal didn't respond well, they even showed their weak mentality, they were giving chance for Liverpool to expand their creativity, and Liverpool had some great chances - fortunately, the scoreline remained 1-0.

Arsenal then recovered, but Liverpool had gained some confidence, and they defended very strong. Honestly, Arsenal were quite lucky to get equalizer, even they had some chances to equalize. Pepe Reina was unstable while trying to catch the ball, and - as everyone knows - it's in. 1-1 for Arsenal

Well, It wasn't Arsenal's best performance, but it wasn't bad either. It was Liverpool who defended very well

The point of this game is Arsenal need to improve their defending, they were really vulnerable on the defence, and better teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Internazionale, and Chelsea could punish Arsenal with heavy defeat, IF they continue defending like that. There's still time for Arsenal to improve, before it's too late.

Tomas Rosicky should start from the beginning in the next match, and Wilshere could be dropped on to the bench, while Van Persie should play in front with Chamakh.

Hopefully, Arsenal could be better next match and win the EPL..

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Attacking isn't a problem, but Defensive is a problem

Arsenal win the Emirates Cup, again, after beating Celtic 3-2. They finished the group with 8 points, from one draw (1 points ), one win (3 points), and four goals (4 points).

They played well, offensively. But, again, Arsenal wasn't very good on defense. On the first half they were very strong, with Manuel Almunia didn't do much in that match.

Then disasters came on 67th minutes. Jack Wilshere unintentionally fouled Marc-Antonio Fortune, and the referee gives Celtic a penalty, which Samaras failed to convert into a goal. But then, Arsenal looked to lost focus again, giving Celtic chance to dominate the game. And Celtic were able to score two goals, giving Arsenal unease condition, if Celtic had scored again, Arsenal would slipped into second place and lost the Emirates Cup.

Fortunately, Arsenal slowly regained their focus and concentration, and took the control of the game again.

They were playing at home, already conceding three goals from two match, that's not good. How could they survive against Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Internazionale??

Hopefully Arsenal could improve again, and they will win major trophy this season!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Post Arsenal-Milan comment

1-1 is the final score for Arsenal and Milan. It was a really entertaining match. Despite it's only a friendly match, both teams showed great determination to win the match. Arsenal took lead by new-striker Marouane Chamakh, before AC Milan equalized by Alexandre Pato's header goal. Both teams also had great chances, but not-so-good finishing letting them to waste their chancess

THE POSITIVES
Youngsters and Newcomers has been pretty impressive. Laurent Koscielny stopped Alexandre Pato well, and Marouane Chamakh scored a goal. While Jack Wilshere took Fabregas' role in the midfield and eventually did well, Emmanuel Frimpong was also impressive, he was so determined in the midfield. Kieran Gibbs was very lively on the left back, giving some good croses, which unfortunately none of them leading to a goal. Second-half substitute Mark Randall was also quite good, had two chances but failed to convert it. Prone-error goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski also didn't do anything wrong even he was underpressure sometimes. That's good sign for the Polish goalkeeper

Arsenal's attacking face wasn't too different from last season, still playing feet-to-feet ball, one two pass, and short pass. Arsenal created many chances, more than Milan did last night, and also all defenders could play with the ball and had some chances, even they are the centre backs.


THE NEGATIVES
Arsenal lost concentration for a while and Milan maximized it. There's gap between the midfield and the defence, although in overall they still defended well.

But the main problem in match against Milan was final touch. Besides Chamakh's goal, Arsenal's players are lacking of finishing touch, they had many chances, and only one goals scored, that's a problem. There's an argument than Cristian Abbiati has been brilliant, it's true, Abbiati played well yesterday, but some of the clear chances, which Abbiati wouldn't have saved, if they hit it on target, the result could've been different.

Another negative side is Arsenal were losing focus after conceding one goal, that's a problem, when you lost focus after conceded. Arsenal almost conceded again two times after Pato's goal, and they need to improve their mentality, not to down after conceded one goal.

In Overall, Arsenal was quite good. Draw isn't the best result Arsenal could get, but hopefully it brings experience for youngsters.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Justice in Football

We all already know that Spain is the champion of World Cup 2010. But what I wanna emphasize here is not how Spain could become a champion or failure of my favourite team, Brazil in the first World Cup held in Africa.

I just wanna emphasize some Justice in football.

First, let's begin with Slovenia, which has seen USA's clear goal disallowed by the referee, and the match ended with 2-2, and Slovenia got advantage from referee's bad decision. They tragically fail to qualify from Group C, following to 0-1 lost from England and USA's 1-0 win against Algeria.

Next team is Serbia, who saw Miroslav Klose sent off after slightly obstructed Serbian player. Serbia won 1-0 against Germany. But they failed in Group Stage as Australia beat them 2-1 while Germany beat Ghana 1-0, which gave Germany and Ghana ticket to the next round.

Brazil also got advantage from the referee when Luis Fabiano controlled with his hand before scoring to Boubacar Barry's goal. In that match, Brazil win 3-1, which resulting them to go to next round. In round of 16, they still won against Chile 3-0. But in the quarterfinal, Netherlands defeated them 2-1, sending them home.

Don't forget Germany who saved by the referee which disallowed Lampard's goal, in the last 16 match against England, the scoreline when that accident happen is 2-1 for German's lead, but if England had scored, who knew the momentum will change into Capello's side. Argentina has also got advantage from the referee when Carlos Tevez's offside goal is counted, when Mexico had more chances to score. Mexico lost concentration, and lost 1-3 in the end. When Germany and Argentina meet, it's 'advantaged' vs 'advantaged', so it's no problem which teams won, which in the end Germany thrashed Argentina four goals without any reply! But in semifinal, Germany outclassed by 'tiki-taka' performed by Spain, 0-1.

Paraguay, which played hardly in Second Round match against Japan, could easily conceded a penalty, after one of their defender fouled Japan's player, but they eventually won 5-3 over penalty shootout. In quarterfinal, they were defeated by Spain, from David Villa's only goal.

Uruguay, which dramatically win against Ghana, with 'Hand of Evil' Luis Suarez saved Ghana's 99,9% chance of scoring goal with his hand. They win 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after Asamoah Gyan's penalty hit the crossbar. in the end got two consecutive 2-3 lost - against Netherlands and Germany, and ended in fourth place. They were lucky when Ghana failed to score from the spot. But they were unlucky when they saw Netherlands offside goal is counted, and in the next match against Germany, Forlan's freekick only hit the post.

Netherlands, the finalist, got an offside goal counted against Spain, lost 0-1 over an extra time.

Lastly, France which qualified from Henry's two times handball, followed by Gallas' goal to beat Ireland 2-1 in aggregate, was destroyed in South Africa, with one draw and two lost, with only one goal scored. The team squad themselves even had a bad disharmony with each other, with Nicolas Anelka argued with Raymond Domenech and sent home by the France Football Federation, followed by Patrice Evra's captaincy continued in training boycott, France is completely destroyed in South Africa, mainly by themselves.

Well, teams might had got advantage(s) - unfairly - by the referee, or maybe got a high luck in one match; in one match would lost in next games, could be said it's the price they sacrifice to get the 'advantage', even if they never wished for get it. That's Justice in Football, which happens in this World Cup.

I write this without any disrespect any teams, I know most of teams playing in World Cup have already fighting at their best in South Africa.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

World Cup Prediction Group B-H

Group B
As South Korea and Argentina win on the first match, they are favoured to go to the next round, but seeing Nigeria in the match against Argentina, I predicted Nigeria will come to the next round while Argentina would get the top position. Greece might replay what they get in Euro 2008

Group C
Slovenia wins against Algeria, while USA and England draws, so Slovenia stays on top, but the next two match, Slovenia isn't likely to win, so England and USA would go to the next round. Algeria would get 0 points from the three match

Group D
Very tough group, but Ghana, which has just got 1-0 victory against Serbia, and Germany would go to the next round. Ghana might beat Germany to reach the top of the group, like just Croatia did to Germany in Euro 2008. Serbia, and Australia would give Germany and Ghana challenge, but they still would say goodbye to world Cup

Group E
Netherlands, who has been very impressive in the friendly match, would be untouchable in this group. Cameroon and Denmark would battle hard for the ticket to the second round, but it's Cameroon which likely to get it, as this world cup is in Africa. Japan, which targeted the semifinal, would be in the number 4 in this group

Group F
Italy and Paraguay would get to the next round, despite would get a tough challenge from Slovakia. New Zealand would get nothing from three games

Group G
Brazil would top this group, and followed by Portugal. If Didier Drogba isn't injured, Ivory Coast would be more likely to go to the next round rather than Portugal. And North Korea would have same points with New Zealand from Group F..

Group H
Spain would easily overcome all opponent in this group, if they play like they do when beating Poland 6-0. Switzerland and Chile would battle hard to get the second place. And it could be even, while Switzerland has a good defense, Chile has a great offensive power. Honduras wouldn't qualify, but they would held either Chile or Switzerland

Sunday, June 6, 2010

WORLD Cup Prediction Group A

Group A of World Cup consists of the Host South Africa, Uruguay, 1998 champions Mexico, and also 1998 World Cup Winner Frace. All the teams have same chances to go to the next round.

South Africa is the host. They were in doubt after not qualifying to the African Cup in 2010, but they performed well in the Confederation Cup, and also recent friendly matches. While having a quite strong defense, they don't have a very strong offensive power

Uruguay, which qualified via play-off, isn't a team who could easily beaten, although not outstanding. Uruguay would be a tough opponent for every team. Physically strong, but sometimes inconsistent

France also qualified via a controversial playoff, doesn't perform too well in the friendly matches, and they would struggle to play against Uruguay, Mexico, and South Africa. They have bunch of good players, like Ribery, Gourcuff, and Lloris, but organizationally not very strong.

Mexico has showed its cohesiveness, despite losing against Netherland and England, they don't played badly. They even could beat the defending champions Italy 2-1. Mexico has a good attacking power in Giovanni, Carlos Vela, Cuautemoc Blanco, and also Javier Hernandez

As all of the teams have almost equally same strength, this group would probably give many draw results.Personally, I think South Africa and Mexico would through to the next round. Mexico has showing theirself playing as a team, and South Africa would be very hard to beat in their home. If they perform like they do in Confederation Cup, the second round ticket would be theirs.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Don't leave Arsenal, Cesc!

Fabregas has heavily linked with Barcelona move, and he already desired his will to come back to his childhood club. Barca is said to already offer Cesc Fabregas with 30 millions pounds but Arsenal turned it down, because Arsenal wants 40 or maybe 50 millions for the gunners' captain

Well, Fabregas is definetely the key player of Arsenal, including the Captain of the club. Of course, Barcelona need to make a higher offer! Without any disrespection, Berbatov was bought by Man. Utd 30 millions, and Robinho was bought around that price too. Robinho was the one Madrid wanted to offload, and Man.City paid 30 milliosn. Fabregas, who is key player, and labelled not for sale, should be priced more. 50-60 milllions is reasonable for 23-years old star. Fabregas would be able to play at the highest level at least 7 more years.

Well, another reason is the competition for first team places in Barcelona. IF Fabregas leave Arsenal, would he still guaranteed first place? Barca has another excellent passers, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. While it isn't likely to see Barca changed their formation, Fabregas would play in midfield alongside Xavi and one defensive midfielder. Would Iniesta pushed forward, and forcing Ibrahimovic to the bench? Or Fabregas would only become supersub??

Fabregas could only be Prince in Camp Nou, while he is now a King in Arsenal!
Remember what happened to Thierry Henry and Aliaksandr Hleb when they moved to Barcelona! You could suffer the same too, Fabregas!

So, don't leave Arsenal, Cesc!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

It's so similar

EPL has ended, and so Serie A. Even the Champions League has finished yesterday, while we saw Internazionale Milano beats Bayern 2-0 by two goals of Milito.

Well, now I don't write about the champions league, I write about similarities between Premier League and Serie A. I've just realized there are some similarities between two of three big leagues in Europe

1. The League's winner wears Blue Shirt, and also won the Domestic Cup
Chelsea, the EPL winner uses Blue Shirts, while Inter Milan, the treble winner uses Blue shirts with black stripes. Chelsea also win FA Cup, While Inter seals the Copa Italy. Both teams also using trequartista in their formation


2. The League's runner up and third place wears Red Shirt

Man. Utd and Arsenal finished second and third in EPL, while AS Roma and AC Milan gets second and third respectively. All of them uses Red Shirts. AC Milan uses Red Shirts with black stripes. Arsenal also had one more similarities with AC Milan. They both doubted with many pundits, but they performs very well, and surprised the pundits. Arsenal and AC Milan also using 4-3-3


3. Newcomer to big four

Tottenham finished fourth to qualify to Champions League next season, while Sampdoria gets the same position in Serie A. Both teams isn't the big four in their country, but managed to seals Champions League Spot

4. Three horse race until two horse race
It was three horse race until the mid-end of the season (Chelsea - Man. Utd - Arsenal), and (Inter - Roma - Milan), but in the end, it's only two horse race between the winner and the runner-up

5. Title decided on the last gameweek.
Inter seals Champions after beating Siena 1-0 and Chelsea destroyed Wigan 8-0 to ensure the EPL trophy comes to London

6. Teams with most titles falls
Juventus failed to get to the Champions League next season, and so did Liverpool. Both teams didn't perform like what they should perform. Both teams have the most league title in their country. Both teams had a good squad, but injuries hit them and they only get the ticket to the Europa League.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Gene's Best EPL team

EPL has ended and we have seen Chelsea to become the champions. Congrats to Chelsea since they performs very well this season, and deserved to get that trophy.


Well, there are so many players have performed well this season, and I'll pick 11 best player. Here they are:

Goalkeeper:
JOE HART
He made numerous of fantastic saves with Birmingham. Capello should considers him as England 1st goalkeeper

Defender Left:
Patrice Evra
Very consistent on the left flank of Man.Utd, while defending well too

Centre-Back:
Thomas Vermaelen
Could be said signing of the season. Rock at Arsenal's heart of defense. He is very important for the Gunners.

Centre-Back:
Michael Dawson
Very strong and consistent this season, bringing Spurs to the fourth place

Right-Back:
Branislav Ivanovic
Slightly better than Arsenal's Sagna, and offers attacking option on chelsea's Right flank

Center Midfield
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal's maestro, top assister, and top scorer; even he only plays for 27 matches for the Gunners. Top world-class playmaker alongside Xavi Hernandez.

Center Midfield
Frank Lampard
Engine of Chelsea's midfield, alongside Malouda. He is also very sharp in front of goal.

Left Winger
Florent Malouda
Last Season Chelsea's outsider is now the keyplayer. He always become the livewire of Chelsea's attacks

Right Winger
James Milner
He made the most assist for Aston Villa, and could be said consistent on this season.

Centre Forward
Didier Drogba
Complete striker: fast, strong, good aerial ability, and very composed; Chelsea's target man become the top scorer of Premier League

Centre Forward
Wayne Rooney
Another Complete Striker. Arguably one of the best striker on nowadays. Few season before he couldn't head well but this season he has scores some header goal.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Unexpected

Football is full of surprise. And that's what just happened in Champions League.

In the beginning of the season, I'm sure few people predicted both Bayern and Inter to go to the Champions League final. Without disrespecting Bayern and Inter, I have to said they were struggling, even from the group stage. Even when the Quarter Final drawing has been made, many people and pundits said, the 2008/2009 final would be repeated once more: Barca vs Man. Utd in final.

Bayern almost eliminated in the Group A, but they showed great mentality, and beat Juventus 4-1 in away games on the last matchday, forcing Juventus to only get the ticket to the Europa League. On the Last-16, they need away goals rule and also an offside-goal to overcome Fiorentina. Robben's great goal seals the ticket despite losing 2-3 on Artemio Franchi. Because Bayern won 2-1 on Allianz Arena, and away goals rule made them go through.

On the quarterfinal, they faced on-form Manchester United. With Wayne Rooney was in an excellent form, Man. Utd was heavily favoured. But, Bayern, once again, succeeded to get to next round, with the same score, losing 2-3 on away games, after winning 2-1 on home. Again, it was Arjen Robben who scored another amazing goal to make Bayern reach the last Four

On semifinal, it wasn't really hard for Bayern to overcome Lyon. Lyon is a great team, but they mentally lose agains Bayern. Bayern reach the final again from the first time since 2001, with 4-0 aggregate. But this time, the hero isn't Arjen Robben, but hattrick-scorer Ivica Olic.

Inter doesn't have too different way, despite having a very good squad, they were put on the same group as Barcelona. And they sealed the last 16 ticket on the last matchday, defeating Rubin Kazan 2-0.

On the last 16, Inter faced Chelsea. Having an inconsistency in Serie A, Inter was slight underdog on that match. However, Jose Mourinho's genius tactical skill made Chelsea unable to win the game, even losing both home and away, 1-2 and 0-1.

Quarterfinal wasn't really hard for Inter. Being drawed against CSKA Moscow, Inter, once again winning the match home and away with the same score, 1-0.

The real test for Inter was the semifinal. Facing defending Champions Barcelona, they again become slight underdog. Inter and Barca had already met on the group stage and Inter never won on two occasion, only gets scoreless draw on home and losing 0-2 on away. But, Inter showed what 'catenaccio' is. Barca couldn't do much, and only get two goals from two match, losing 1-3 on Guiseppe Meazza, winning 1-0 in Camp Nou. And the defending Champions is dethroned.

I didn't say this is a bad Champions League Final. Champions League Final would be interseting, regradless of the playing team in the final.

Inter is a very strong team, they actually have great offensive power. Sneidjer, Stankovic, Eto'o, Milito, Pandev, Balotelli isn't just an ordinary player. The defense is even stronger, with Lucio and Walter Samuel in the heart of the defense, they hardly penetrable. Don't forget "The Special One", Jose Mourinho, as the manager . He is a genius in football.

Bayern is also a good team. Louis Van Gaal has united them into a good team. Without relying on one player. Second-leg semifinal showed they aren't depended on Ribery. Olic could be the trump card for the Bavarian.

Now, just hope Inter don't play defensively, and we could see a great entertainment on the Final of the Champions League. Just wait a month..

Monday, April 19, 2010

What Arsenal should do Next Season

It's another defeat, and It closed Arsenal's title chance. Chelsea had lost a day before, and Arsenal would be back in race IF arsenal win. The first half, Arsenal leaded 1-0 and extended their lead, 2-0 in the beginning on the second half, by Mikael Silvestre's header. But that's all, and Wigan took the control of the game and Arsenal didn't defended well. Clichy, Silvestre, and most notably Lukasz Fabianski made mistakes, and it's ended with 2-3 defeat.

It's another prone defending who makes Arsenal lost. Almost every loss suffered by Arsenal is caused by bad defending, from losing 1-2 from Man.Utd, 0-3 from Chelsea, then FA Cup exit by Stoke 1-3. Then, the 1-3 and 0-2 defeat from Man.Utd and Chelsea is also caused by some bad defending. Then 1-2 from Porto, 1-4 from Barcelona, 1-2 from Tottenham, and the last is 2-3 from Wigan. Don't forget 1-1 draw against Birmingham. It's all about bad defending. Without disrespect other teams ability, Arsenal would have got better result.

Arsenal undoubtedly need to strenghten their squad, especially the defensive force. The need-to-improve position is Defensive Midfielder, Goalkeeper, and also Center Back. Maybe Arsenal need a central forwarder, but if Marouane Chamakh has agreed a contract with Arsenal, there would probably not buying another central forwarder.

On the defensive Midfielder, Arsenal has a good defensive midfielder in Alex Song. However, there's no backups for Alex Song. Arsene Wenger always believe Denilson to replace Song, and if Song and Denilson is absent, the water-carrier position is given to Craig Eastmond. Denilson is a potentially-good player, but he isn't a defensive midfielder. He is physically not too strong, and he is more like a playmaking central midfield. Craig Eastmond is still too young to play on the highest level. Maybe Anthony Annan (Rosenborg / Ghana); Blaise Matuidi (St. Ettiene / French), who has already expressed his desire to play under Wenger; and Moussa Sissoko (Tolouse / French), is a possible transfer


Then Goalkeeper position, Almunia has been up and down this season, but still much better than second goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski. Vito Mannone is still lack of experience. Fabianski could be offloaded due to error prone. Sergio Asenjo (Atletico / Spain) would be perfect, and could be 1st goalkeeper, replacing Almunia. Sebastian Frey (Fiorentina / French) also reportedly being linked to Arsenal but it's unlikely for Frey to move.

The weakest position is the center back. Thomas Vermaelen is world class, William Gallas is strong, Campbell is dependable, but Mikael Silvestre is the main weakness! He is always been prone error, alongside Fabianski. Well, Silvestre is likely to offloaded in the end of season, while Gallas' contract is runing out and some clubs like AS Roma, and PSG has already declared interest. Campbell would renew his contract, but Arsenal still need another Central Defender, if Gallas leave or not. Mamadou Sakho (PSG / French), Frederico Fazio (Sevilla / Argentina), or Brede Hangeland (Fulham / Norway) would be great transfer for Wenger

Reportedly Wenger has 45 millions pounds to spend this summer, so Wenger should buy something, or Arsenal would probably have another title-less season..

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Goodbye!

It's another lost Arsenal suffered and Arsenal have to say goodbye to the EPL title. Mathematically, Arsenal still has chance to dethrone Chelsea from the top as the gap is six points with twelve points available. But logically it's unlikely for Arsenal to go to the top. In addition, Vermaelen is reported got an injury so he's out for 2-3 weeks. With Silvestre and Campbell in the central of the defense, Arsenal would be more penetrable, as they both not so fast, and sometimes careless, especially Silvestre.

1-2 defeat from a city rival, Tottenham Hotspurs is really painful for Arsenal. A defeat from a rival is kind of unacceptable, and that defeat is also - as I said - almost denied Arsenal's title chance. Once again, with domination, but without killer instinct, Arsenal failed to win, and even lost.

But, it's football, even a smallest hope means the race isn't over, and I could only hope for a miracle..

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

No english team in Champions League semifinal, english football declining moment??

The quarterfinal of Champions league is over, and everyone knows the result. Barcelona overcame arsenal 6-3 in two-legged entertaining matches. Lyon go to the semifinal, despite losing 1-0 to Bordeaux, and thanks to Hugo Lloris' saves, with 3-2 aggregate. Inter comfortably beat CSKA 2-0, with 1-0 win both home and away. and the last, Bayern Muenchen need away goals rule again - they need away goals rule to send Fiorentina out of the competition - go to next round, while having 4-4 aggregate, 2-1 in home, and losing 2-3 away.

For the first time since Champions League 2003-2004, English teams didn't feature in Champions League semifinal.

English clubs representative in the last seven season in Champions League semifinal
2003/2004: Chelsea
2004/2005: Liverpool, Chelsea
2005/2006: Arsenal
2006/2007: Chelsea, Man. Utd, Liverpool
2007/2008: Chelsea, Man. Utd, Liverpool
2008/2009: Arsenal, Chelsea, Man. Utd
2009/2010: -
It was even three seasons of semifinal domination in three season before this, although english teams only win the champions league on 2007/2008.

What actually happens to English teams today? Are they now isn't as strong as before?
There are two possible answer: money and unluckiness.

First probability, MONEY
Well, Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger said that tax is the main problem in england. What is the corelation between tax and football. Well, football players are paid by the club. And football players are obligated to pay the tax. As the tax is very high in England, they should pay more for the tax, and that means they get fewer money. For example, one player is paid 5 million euros a year, they might pay more than 2 million euros only for tax. In Spain, football players get a fairly low tax rate, about 15%.. And with the same example, 5-million-pounds-wages player only pay only about 750.000 euros. Money maybe the reason why some superstars chose to leave England, as we seen last summer, the departure of Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Arbeloa. Cristiano Ronaldo said that his reason moving to Real Madrid is for a new challenge, but we don't know if he has money as his reason too.

Still about money, English clubs also has a very big debt, more than 3,5 billion pounds. Having a bid debt, they are forced to sell players with high prices, and buy cheaper players. Man.United had sold Cristiano Ronaldo with more than 80 million pounds but only buy Antonio Valencia, Mame Briam Diouf, and Michael Owen. While Liverpool sell Xabi Alonso to get injury-prone Alberto Aquilani, plus selling Alvaro Arbeloa. While Arsenal sold Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, and buy Thomas Vermaelen. Chelsea had different story, since Roman Abramovic funds them, and buying Yuri Zhirkov.

Well, maybe English club need to make some great transfer to strengthen their squad. A star player, not only a youngster. Some english club has already linked with star player. Chelsea is after Wolfsburg striker, Edin Dzeko, and also Bayern winger, Franck Ribery. Man. Utd also linked with Franck Ribery, and also Real Madrid's striker, Karim Benzema. Arsenal is said to have signed Marouane Chamakh in free transfer. Wenger has expressed desire to buy some star players.

Second probability, Unluckiness
Or maybe, the second theory, they're just unlucky. Expect Liverpool, they get strong teams in the last 16 and quarterfinal. Chelsea had to face Jose Mourinho's Internazionale, while they dominating both first and second leg, but however they failed to go through. They also should've got penalty, but the referee didnt' gave it. Man.Utd were also unlucky when Rooney injured in the first leg, and he didn't play well in the second leg. And Arsenal is the most unluckiest team in the drawing this season. They have to face defending champions "Los Fantasticos" Barcelona. First Leg, Arsenal fought bravely and got 2-2 draw result in Emirates. But on the second leg they are beaten by Lionel Messi's magic, and lost 1-4 in Camp Nou.

Whatever the true reason is, it's a slap to England's team to prepare themselves for next season.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

3 points from the top... 5 games remaining.. Still Title Hope

Following Arsenal last-gasp victory against Wolverhampton and Man.Utd's defeat from Chelsea in home, Arsenal is just 3 points away from Chelsea, although still lost goal difference. It means Arsenal has to win all of the remaining game, and Chelsea had to slipped in at least two games, while Man.Utd has to slipped in one games. With 5 games remaining, everything is still possible, since all of the title chaser had three beatable opponent and two tough games. Arsenal is going to White Hart Lane, and also meet Man.City in Emirates. Chelsea, has to met Tottenham and Liverpool, both of them away games. And Man.Utd still has fixture against Tottenham (home) and Man. City (away)

Looking at the points, it's Chelsea who have the biggest chance to win the EPL, but looking at the fixture, Arsenal, Man.Utd, and Chelsea still have same chances winning the title.

Two away games with two tough opponent, in away games, might force Chelsea to drop more points. Chelsea is on-form now, especially after beating Man.Utd, but they showed they have one weaknesses, they often played bad against weaker team.

Man. Utd, who last week lead the table, is now on second place, two points away from the recent league leader, and also losing four goal difference. As Rooney injured, Man. Utd would lost 50 % of its power, and would probably dropping to third position, if Arsenal get to the second place

As Arsenal fans, I really hope Arsenal win this season's Premier League. But, as I said before, it's three points away with losing goal difference, with Chelsea had to slipped in two games plus obligation for Arsenal to win all the remaining games, it would be really hard. If only Arsenal had won agaist Birmingham. But since there's still hope, Arsenal have to give all their effort in the remaining of the season!!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

2-2 draw against Barcelona shows Arsenal isn't a Pushover.

Arsenal return from 0-2 behind to 2-2 draw isn't best result Arsenal can get, but however it shows Barca couldn't easily beat Arsenal. Even though Barca is playing in Emirates, Barca had more possesion and more chances. The first half ended with 0-0 result, as Almunia made some good saves. Arsenal suffers more in the first half as Arshavin had to be substituted by Emmanuel Eboue and William Gallas had to be taken off for Denilson.

Great game showed by both team, playing attacking football. Arsenal shows no fear facing Barcelona with attacking football. Rarely a team brave enough to face barca with open play, and ususally Barca's oppostion opts to play defensively and search a counter attack goal.

However, Arsenal didn't do a good defending, and conceded two preventable goal. It was still the first minutes of second half when Ibrahimovic scored a goal, and looks like Alexandr Song, who pushed back to center back position, was out of position, and allowed Ibrahimovic to score. And it's also a miscomunication between Song, Vermaelen, and also Clichy who made Ibrahimovic escaped from an offside trap.

After Arsenal introduced Theo Walcott, everything changed, Arsenal got more chances, and also left flank from Barca is always bombarded. It's just few minutes after Walcott came in, Arsenal finally managed to score a goal. It's the substitute Walcott who score a goal, after getting through pass from Nicklas Bendtner. In the remaining 20 minutes, Arsenal looks likely to equalize, but it didn't happen until Fabregas' penalty. It was Puyol who obstructing Fabregas. Puyol was given a red card because he is the last man, and Arsenal got penalty. Fabregas did his job scoring the penalty. Arsenal back leveled. And the score remained till the end of first half.

2-2 actually gives advantage to Barcelona, who gets two away goals, but Arsenal is a team who can score in both home and away goal. But, seeing the Barca's domination, Arsenal would have a very hard game in Camp Nou 2nd leg, and Arsenal would miss Captain Cesc Fabregas after picking up yellow card. However, Barca is also missing Captain Carles Puyol and his center back tandem, Gerard Pique.

If Arsenal could play like second half last 20 minutes, Arsenal could beat any teams in the world!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Arsenal need to Improve

Arsenal failed to get 7th victory in a row in English Premier League after held 1-1 by Birmingham. Arsenal were struggling in first half but it's really Arsenal's second half. They had more than 10 chances but in the end they could only one goal could be scored. Arsenal should have had penalty on first half after Theo Walcott is brought down in the box.

Arsenal wouldn't win anything this season if they don't improve. They looked didn't have any creativity when Fabregas didn't make any impact in the midfield. Until Nasri and Arshavin comes in, Arsenal had few chance to score. Birmingham even had more chances. Arsenal should replace Nicklas Bendtner with other striker. Bendtner isn't bad, but he is really inconsistent, but usually he is flop of the team. Maybe Wenger should try to play Eduardo da Silva from the first minute or even Carlos Vela plays. Carlos Vela has a good potential but he hasn't got enough minutes of playing this season.

And it's right what Arshavin said, Arsenal need two or three more star player to win a trophy. Arsenal only has few world class player, Andrey Arshavin, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermaelen, and Robin Van Persie. And in the match against Birmingham, Arsenal only started with Cesc Fabregas. It's obvious Fabregas couldn't dominate the midfield. He need one or two tandem in midfield. Abou Diaby is good, but he is yet to show his peak performance.

Wenger might have played wrong formation, instead of putting Mikael Silvestre on the center back, Wenger tends to make Song the central defender. Song is a good defender. But he is more needed in the midfield. This season, Arsenal has been struggling without Alex Song in the Defensive Midfielder, and Wenger must have realized that. Denilson is more like an playmaking midfielder. I have to admit he is good, but he isn't suitable to be a defensive midfielder.

A match against Barca is waiting in the midweek. Arsenal have to forget the draw against Birmingham. They'll have to do they best. Without disrespecting Birmingham, if they couldn't beat Birmingham, how would they beat sextuple "Los Fantasticos" Barcelona. C'mon Wenger, Prove a Point! You're a great manager, and show to world that you can beat Barcelona!!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Similarities between Arsenal and Persib

I've seen some similarities between my favourite club, Arsenal, and my hometown club, Persib.

1. Strong Goal-Scoring Defender
ARSENAL: Thomas Vermaelen
PERSIB: Nova Arianto
Both are a strong defender, and capable of scoring goals. They often go forward to help scoring goals. Nova Arianto has scored three goals in this season, while Thomas Vermaelen has scored seven goals in Premier League.

2. Small-agile Playmaker
ARSENAL: Cesc Fabregas
PERSIB: Eka Ramdani
Both is a great playmaker in their class. Cesc Fabregas, who is currently Arsenal captain has been in superb form this season, scoring 18 goals in all competition. Eka Ramdani only scores three goal, but he is an integral part of Persib. Other similarities, is, despite being key player of their own team, they aren't first choice in the national team. Cesc Fabregas is second option for Vincente del Bosque's team after Xavi Hernandez, while Eka Ramdani isn't first team regular in Indonesian National Team

3. Rejoin-Veteran Defender
ARSENAL: Sol Campbell
PERSIB: Aji Nurpijal
Both Sol Campbell and Aji Nurpijal had already left the club, but they decide to return to their old team.

4. Supersub
ARSENAL: Eduardo da Silva
PERSIB: Budi Sudarsono
Both aren't first team choice but often used in squad rotation or become a supersub. They're also first choice in their national team. Eduardo is first team regular in Croatian National Team, while Budi Sudarsono is a key player for Indonesian National Team.

5. Title Hope
This season, both teams had already written off from champions' candidate for their own league. But now, they're considered as a title challenger. Persib is 6 points off league-leader Arema, while Arsenal only two points away from MU.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Arsenal - west ham analysis

Arsenal has already gone to the top, although might be go back to second or third place after man.utd and chelsea played their game tonight. 10-men Arsenal beat West Ham 2-0 by a decent performance. It wasn't Gunners' best, but they won through a hard work and much effort.
West Ham gives Arsenal a test, they're pressing so Arsenal didn't have much room to freely taking the game. Even when 11 against 11, West Ham looked threatening. Well, this victory is good for Arsenal. one man down is never easy for any team. Wenger made a good changes with subbing Bendtner with Diaby not long from the start of second half. Diaby gives Arsenal power in the midfield, after Song pulled to the center back, that's what Arsenal need.
Besides Vermaelen foul, Arsenal did a good defending. Personally, I think it shouldn't been a penalty and red card because it's just a body contact. But, thanks to Almunia who brilliantly blocked Alessandro Diamanti, who played very well yesterday, penalty. It might be another luck for the gunners, after Cole's shot has been denied by the post.
Arsenal still could improve on attacking. They had some good chances but failed to score, mostly because of not so accurate pass near the penalty area. If they don't maximize their chance, they could be punished with a bigger opponent they'll face, like Barcelona. They still had chance, but they have to improve their attacking.

Friday, March 19, 2010

UEFA Champions League Draw

UCL has already reached Quarter Final, 8 teams has already qualified and the drawing has already out, and here's the drawing
Lyon v Bordeaux
Bayern Munich v Manchester United
Arsenal v Barcelona
Inter Milan v CSKA Moscow


PREDICTION
Lyon - Bordeaux 50-50
This France derby would be an even game, both teams showing their condusivity as a team. Lyon shows everyone that they're capable beating any team, after sending Madrid out of the competition, but Bordeaux is still unbeatable in the UCL. Maybe Lyon or Bordeaux need an extra time and maybe penalty shootout to go to semifinal.

Bayern Munich - Man. Utd 45-55
Man. Utd is favourite side in this match. With on-fire striker Wayne Rooney, Man. Utd is hard to defeat now, while Bayern has Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben as their ace cards. Bayern would give a hard game for Man. Utd, but they aren't likely to qualify. Man. Utd will go through

Arsenal - Barcelona 45 - 55
Arsenal will need more than a good performance to go to next round as defending-champions Barcelona will be their next opponent. This encounter is replay of UCL Final 2005/2006, when Barca win 2-1.
There would be tough battle in the midfield: Keita/Toure - Xavi - Iniesta vs Song - Cesc - Diaby. Barca has a truf card in Lionel Messi, and Arsenal has Andrey Arshavin. and Barcelona is more likely to go the next round but if Arsenal could play clinically like when beating Porto 5-0, maybe the defending Champions will get out from the competition.

Inter - CSKA 55 - 45
Inter is better in players' quality but CSKA isn't easy to face. CSKA has already kicked Sevilla out of competition, with winning 2-1 in Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Inter wouldn't worry if they could repeat their performance in Stamford Bridge. But Inter have tendency to play worser against underdog teams. Inter would expect much from Dutch trequartista, Wesley Sneidjer, while CSKA has Keisuke Honda, who scores the winning goal against Sevilla. Inter should've been to next round if they didn't disrespect CSKA.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Hull 1 ARSENAL 2

Arsenal beat Hull 2-1 in KC Stadium. Despite victory, Arsenal must wait till the injury time of second half to score the second goal. It was an even game, with Hull pressing everytime Arsenal held the ball, Arsenal didn't have much room to improve. However, Arsenal score the first goal after Andrey Arshavin beat 2 defenders and smashed the ball into Boaz Myhill's goal. 0-1 for Arsenal lead. Hull equalized after Jan Vennegoor brought down by Sol Campbell and the referee points the spot, Jimmy Bullard succesfully converted the penalty. 1-1. However, from the replay, it's clearly that before Jan Vennegoor brought down, he was in offside position, and the assistant didn't flag up! On the end of first half, George Boateng was sent off after getting second yellow card, and Hull must defended with ten players.

On the second half, Hull defended very well and looks like Arsenal wont able to score a goal. But, after Theo Walcott and Eduardo entered the fray, everything changed. Hull's defence looked more likely to be penetrated. Walcott's movement always worry the opposition team. Despite many chances, Arsenal still failed to score the goal until 90th minutes. Andrey Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, and Theo Walcott missed some good chances. On injury time, Denilson tried a long range shoot. The shot was blocked by Myhill, but Nicklas Bendtner took the rebound and scored the second goal. 1-2, Arsenal lead again. And Hull couldn't equalize again. It's Arsenal's victory


ARSENAL'S MOM:
Bacary Sagna
didn't make any mistake and strong on the backline and supports the attack well. worked well both with eboue and walcott

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

UCL Prediction

There are 4 match of UEFA Champions League 2nd leg match that is held on 9th and 10th March 2010:
1. Arsenal - Porto (1st Leg 1-2)
Arsenal will have to face Porto without Cesc Fabregas. The Arsenal captain got hamstring injury against Burnley. Still, without Fabregas, Arsenal is favourite in this match. In the last match, Samir Nasri proved himself that he could be playmaker too. It's likely for Wenger to put Samir Nasri in line up. Arsenal is also missing William Gallas, and Sol Campbell would be put as Gallas' replacement. Porto isn't a n easy opponent for Wenger's boys but Arsenal will win this game without clean sheet 3-1 for Arsenal

2. Fiorentina - Bayern (1st Leg 1-2)
Fiorentina hasn't been in a good form, and they are only on 11th position, while Bayern hasn't been lost for 19 match and comfortably placed in 1st position in Bundesliga, but Bayern will miss Martin Demichelis because of injury. Fiorentina wants to revenge to Bayern after lost 1-2 in first leg. The referee controversially decided to allow Miroslav Klose's injury time goal to stand although it's clearly an offside goal. Fiorentina will dominate the game, but Bayern would be able to held Fiorentina. 2-2 draw

3. Man. Utd - Milan (1st Leg 3-2)
Man. Utd has a good modal facing the second leg with 3-2 lead. While 0-0 is enough for Man. Utd to go through next round, Milan need at least 2-0 or 4-3 victory to go through next round, so there wouldn't be any other choice than attacking from the first minute. Ronaldinho and Pato would be a very dangerous threat for MU. As the consequences of Milan's attacking strategy, there would be much room for MU to counter attack, especially from Antonio Valencia, or Nani. This match won't ended with a goaless score, but no one would win this match. 2-2

4. Madrid - Lyon (1st Leg 0-1)
Neo Galacticos Madrid would have to win with two goals in this match if they wanna go through next round. Lyon has proven theirself they aren't pushover, but this match is played in Bernabeu, where Madrid only lost once in this venue. With CR9, Kaka, and Higuain, Madrid wouldn't have any problem scoring a goal. Madrid only have problem on the backline. They still rarely got clean sheet result, and their full backs are too often supporting the attack, leaving a hole on the backline. Lyon would be quite defensive and only launch counter attack, but it would be dangerous if the fullbacks are too offensive. If Madrid shows strong mentality again like against Sevilla, Madrid would win this game. 4-1 for Madrid

Saturday, March 6, 2010

ARSENAL Player Rating vs Burnley

1. Manuel Almunia 6.0
The only Burnley goal isn't his fault. He caught the ball well and didn't make any mistake.

22. Gael Clichy 6.5
Didn't come forward often on the first half but give good attacking support on second half.

5. Thomas Vermaelen 6.5
Solid on the back, but rarely coming forward like usual

18. Mikael Silvestre 6.0
Defended well but lost concentration once on Burnley's goal

27. Emmanuel Eboue 7.0
Getting forward often and solid on the back. Solid game for the Ivorian.

15. Neves Denilson 6.5
Diciplined to cover the backline

4. Cesc Fabregas 7.5
The captain is on the field less than 45 minutes but managed to score a goal.

8. Samir Nasri 8.0
The dirigent of Arsenal after Fabregas taken off. Threatening Burnley with couple dangerous runs.

7. Tomas Rosicky 6.5
Had a great chance to open the score. But faded on the second half.

14. Theo Walcott 8.0
Great game for the young winger. Answer everyone critics with his performance tonight. But the question is can he be consistent like this?

52. Nicklas Bentner 4.5
7 chances 5 golden chances but no goals. no more explanation needed..

SUBS

2. Abou Diaby 7.0
Replacing Fabregas and give strength to midfield.

9. Eduardo da Silva 5.5
Missed one good chance but in overall didn't contribute much

23. Andrey Arshavin 6.5
Score the third goal for Arsenal but didn't have his best night

ARSENAL 3 Burnley 1

Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1 on a fine afternoon on Emirates Stadium. Arsenal tried to dominate the game from the beginning. Tomas Rosicky had his shot over the bar and Cesc Fabregas saw his shoot wide from the target. Then Arsenal took lead on 33rd minutes after Samir Nasri lobbed the ball through four Burnley's player and Cesc Fabregas hits the ball low between Brian Jensen's leg. 1-0 for "the Gunners". Not long after that goal, Cesc Fabregas is substituted by Abou Diaby. Wenger might want to rest Fabregas for next match against Porto. Two minutes later, Nicklas Bendtner had a very good chance after Eboue crossed the ball, but he missed it. And the 1-0 score remained until half time.
On the second half, Bendtner (again) had a great chance after Walcott sends the ball to the penalty area, but Bendtner heads it wide although he is unmarked. David Nugent shocked Emirates Stadium after equalizing the score, Thomas Vermaelen and Mikael Silvestre lost concentration and Nugent took that chance. But the 1-1 score only lasted 10 minutes, Theo Walcott dribbled the ball from right flank into the middle and placed the ball to the bottom left of the goal. 2-1 for Arsenal. After that goal, Arsenal had more than five chances but incredibly none of them become a goal. Burnley also had two chances but it saved by Almunia and over the bar. At least, Arsenal ensured the victory after Andrey Arshavin scored a goal in injury time. 3-1 for Arsenal. Arsenal now had the same points with Chelsea but had already played one games more than Chelsea

Friday, March 5, 2010

This Week Prediction

1. Arsenal - Burnley (EPL)
Arsenal is heavy favourite in this match, but Burnley couldn't be underestimated. Burnley held Arsenal 1-1 in this season. Arsenal might rest some players, so they would be fit against Porto.
So it won't be a big win for gunners. 2-0 for Arsenal.

2. Wolverhampton - Man.United (EPL)
Man.United wouldn't have much problem facing Wolverhampton. Same as Arsenal, they might rest some player, but still it's United's victory. 2-0 only

3. Chelsea - Stoke (FA)
Chelsea would try to bounce back soon after 2-4 defeat against Man.City. Stoke will show they aren't easy to be defeated and is likely to steal a goal from set pieces, but Chelsea's player quality will show the difference. 3-1 for Chelsea

4. Fiorentina - Juventus (Serie A)
Both teams aren't in their best form. Fiorentina is still on 11th position and Juventus got first defeat under Alberto Zaccheroni, against Palermo. With less players called up in international games, Fiorentina has a fresher squad. Juventus also missing many injured players. Through tough game, Fiorentina will win 2-1

5. AS Roma - AC Milan (Serie A)
Third Place against Second Place, it could be said a playoff for second position. Totti is still out, but Toni could be ready for AS Roma. While Milan lost Pato (injury), and Gatusso (Suspension). This game could be a high scoring game, since both teams like attacking, especially Milan. But Roma will exploit super-offensive Milan, 3-2 for home victory

6. Almeria - Barcelona (La Liga)
Many Barca players is still tired after international games, but with Rotation, Pep Guardiola would have no trouble beating Almeria. 1-3 for away

7. Real Madrid - Sevilla (La Liga)
Real Madrid would try to revenge the 1-2 defeat in Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Sevilla isn't an easy opponent since they even able to beat Barca 1-0 in Camp Nou! If Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Kaka, and Gonzalo Higuain plays at their best, Real would win, but still there's no clean sheet for Madrid. 2-1 for Los Galacticos

Saturday, February 27, 2010

ARSENAL only 3 points more from Chelsea

Arsenal cuts the deficit from Man.United and Chelsea as they beat Stoke City 3-1 in Brittania Stadium, where in other match Chelsea suffered a 2-4 home defeat from Man.City. Now Arsenal only 2 points behind MU and 3 points behind Chelsea.

Although coming home with a victory, Arsenal were behind in 8th minutes. Rory Delap's thorpedo throw is flicked by Ryan Shawcross and Danny Pugh headed it into Manuel Almunia's goal. 1-0 for Stoke. Arsenal could equalize the score after Nicklas Bendtner headed Fabregas' crossing on 32 minutes. Generally, Arsenal had more ball possession in this first half.

On 66th minutes, Ryan Shawcross was given red card after tackling Aaron Ramsey recklessly. Ramsey was injured after tackled, and later it's known that Ramsey's leg is broken and he is out till the end of season. Facing 10 players, Arsenal had more domination on Stoke, but still couldn't score a goal again, until Fabregas' penalty goal on 90th minutes. Danny Pugh, the Stoke goalscorer, got his hand on the ball, after Bendtner tried to lift the ball, PENALTY! Fabregas made no mistake, and it's a goal. On injury time, Vermaelen ensured Arsenal vicotry after finishing a close range shot, from Cesc Fabregas assist..

Arsenal took the three points, and still on the way to EPL Title. At least, Arsenal also succeeded to win in Brittania Stadium, where arsenal had lost twice on last two years.