The English Premier League resume next weekend after about 3 month break. But some of the players are involved in the FIFA World Cup and have very little rest. The coach needs to freshen up things by rotating the players so that they have enough rest. The first matches of the season see the titanic clash between Liverpool and Arsenal. Apart from that, we will also see the last season surprise team Tottenham Hotspur taking on Manchester City. Tottenham beat City to fourth placing to claim the final champion league spot. City with the financial support from Abu Dhabi Group are expected to produce a strong challenge towards the Premiership title.

Full fixtures of round 1:

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Aston Villa vs West Ham United

Blackburn Rovers vs Everton

Bolton Wanderers vs Fulham

Sunderland vs Birmingham

Wigan vs Blackpool

Wolvehampton Wanderers vs Stoke City

Chelsea vs West Bromwich Albion

Liverpool vs Arsenal

Manchester United vs Newcastle

Chelsea begins their title defense with a home game against West Bromwich. They should not have any problem beating the visitor. Manchester United is expected to defeat Newcastle United at Old Trafford. There should not be any doubt that the main focus of round 1 of EPL season 2010/2011 is the match between Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool is looking for a good start after a disastrous previous season. Arsenal would like to show to everyone that they are one of favorite to win the title. Arsenal fans are happy and relief that Cesc Fabregas has committed to stay at the club for yet another season. He is the pillar and most important player of the team. The game most likely to end in a tie and both team will get a point from it.

It will be Premier League match time at Upton Park when West Ham United host West Bromwich Albion in game-round twelve on Wednesday.

West Ham manager Avram Grant is on his last limb, literally, as the squad’s co-owner David Sullivan wants West Ham to muster at least seven points from the games with Birmingham, West Brom, Blackpool and Liverpool, as a litmus test as to the club’s viability under Grant. West Ham got one of those points in the Birmingham game, and a loss against West Brom could see Grant make a quick exit from Upton Park.

West Brom are coming off back to back defeats to Blackpool and Manchester City and they have just cause to believe that at least the loss at Blackpool could have been avoided but for a harsh referee decision to send off Pablo Ibanez.

But as desperate as the Baggies are to end their losing streak, so are West Ham keen to get out of the cellar in the points table.

For West Ham, midfielder Mark Noble is due to miss the game on Wednesday, as he is yet to get back to match fitness after undergoing an appendix removal operation. Collison, Tal Ban Haim, Hines an Hitlzsperger are others on the list of injured. Hammers will welcome Kieron Dyer back to action after a long spell of injury.

West Brom will miss Mulumbu who is serving a three match suspension after being sent off against Man City last Sunday. Ahead of the game, West Brom find Jara, Olsson, and Shorey on the injured list. But they will welcome Morrison’s return to the squad, and they could take a late call on Reid and Shorey.

In West Ham’s favour, they have not conceded a goal to West Brom in the last four games between the sides. That said, in their last six home games, west Ham have scored just the solitary goal in each match.

West Brom’s away record is mediocre and that must cause cheer at Upton Park; in their last 21 away games, West Brom have recorded just one win.

Baggies will look to their talismanic player Odemwingie to inspire them to victory in wednesday’s game, while Hammers will want Piquionne to continue from where he left against Birmingham against whom the striker scored.

The following players were in West Ham’s starting eleven against Birmingham:  Green, Jacobsen, Gabbidon, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Boa Morte, Obinna, Cole and Piquionne; Kovac and Dyer played as substitutes.

West Brom’s starting eleven against Manchester City comprised: Carson, Shorey, Tamas, Pablo, Cech, Mulumbu, Scharner, Brunt, Cox, Thomas and Fortune; Miller, Odemwingie and Barnes featured as substitutes.

Manchester United’s away form has not been anything to write about, this season. But their win against Valencia in Spain should boost them ahead of the Sunderland match.

Although Sunderland have lost their last three home games to Manchester United, they won’t be pushovers. They are currently in 11th position on the Premiership points table, and their record includes a win against Manchester City and a draw against Liverpool, both contenders for a top four spot. So the Red Devils could be in for a fight.

Darren Bent is the key man for the Black Cats, and he has followed up his tally of 24 goals last season with five in six matches this season. Sir Alex’s squad has struggled in defence, and with a striker of Bent’s calibre on the prowl, their back line will have to get their act together, if United want to bank three full points from this game.

United will welcome Rio Ferdinand’s return to fitness and he and Vidic should play as full backs while allowing Rafael to excel in his favoured right back position, as he so amply did, in the Valencia game. With Patrick Evra not up to scratch this season, Sir Alex could opt to replace him with Fabio, as left back.

And with Van der Sar in goal, this defence has enough potential to keep Bent and company at bay while joining in the attack, when required.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, a former Manchester United man, has injury worries in defence, with question marks over Kieron Richardson, Mensah and Anton Ferdinand’s participation in the game against the Red Devils. Danny Wellback, on loan from United, is not allowed to play against his parent club, according to the rules.

Asamoah Gyan is a big positive for the Black Cats, and along with Bent, they will rely on him to help beat their more fancied rivals from Old Trafford.

Sir Alex’s squad could be without some key players including Rooney. And although they are known to come to the party a bit late in the season, the Red Devils will be wary of letting Chelsea get away with an unassailable lead, early in the season.

Especially, with the possibility of Chelsea dropping a point in the Arsenal match, the Old Trafford side will want to exploit any chance to narrow the points gap with the champions.

Rooney’s absence could be the big opportunity for Chicharito to show that his goal against Valencia was not a flash in the pan.

Even allowing for Sunderland’s upsurge in the League, and United’s poor away performance, I would expect Sir Alex’s men to impose their collective will on the result of this match.

It’s Premier League match time at the Hawthorns as West Bromwich Albion host Manchester City on Sunday.

The sides had earlier met at the same venue in a Carling Cup encounter in September, a game the Baggies won 2-1.

City are coming off a 2-1 loss to Wolves in match week ten; that loss has been compounded by a 3-1 defeat in the Europa League at the hands of Poland’s Lech Poznan.

The Wolves match began well as Mancini’s charges went on the attack from the whistle; they went ahead in the 23rd minute off a penalty kick by Emmanuel Adebayor, after Wolves defender Stearman brought down Silva in the box. Strangely, the Eastlands squad were content to sit back on their early lead and that allowed Wolves the foothold they wanted.

Late in the game, Adebayor had another chance to score which would have brought the teams level.

West Brom also faced defeat, in match week ten, at the hands of debutants Blackpool. The Baggies did a commendable job of defending after they were reduced to nine man, with both team managers agreeing that at least one of the send offs was contentious.

Pablo Ibanez was the first to be sent off, eleven minutes into the match. Less than twenty minutes later, Jara was the second to go, giving Holloway’s charges their second and decisive goal.

Under the circumstances, the Baggies not only made it tough for the Tangerines to pierce their defence but also managed to reduce the margin in the 85th minute off a Mulumbu strike, and the Seasiders survived a nerve-racking five minutes in the end, to prevail over the Geordies.

Scharner and Reid had clear scoring opportunities in the dying minutes and the Baggies were justified in being cheated as Pablo Ibanez’s offence did not merit a red card.

West Brom  will be concerned about the leg injury sustained in the Blackpool match by Marc-Antoine Fortune and will hope to have their striker fit for the match against Mancini’s men, on Sunday.

While West Brom hold the home advantage in Sunday’s match, Man City have a point to prove, as a loss at the Hawthorns could unravel their title plans.

Ahead of the match, City only have M Johnson sidelined with injury, while the Baggies have a much longer list that comprises Olsson, Cech, Miller and Mattock. Those apart, West Brom will also not have the services of Jara who is serving a one-match suspension.

West Brom had the following players in their starting eleven against Blackpool: Carson, Jara, Pablo, Tamas, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu, Scharner, Thomas, Fortune, Cox

Dorrans, Barnes and Reid played as substitutes.

Manchester City’s starting eleven comprised the following players in their game against Wolves: Hart, Richards, Toure, Kompany, Boateng, Milner, Y Toure, Barry, Adebayor, Balotelli, Silva

The substitutes who played in the game were: Zabaleta, Jo and Johnson

Premier League match time dawns again at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland getting ready to host West Brom in match week 32 on Saturday, April 9, in the second of a two-legged contest.

The first, hosted by West Brom on August 21, 2010, ended 1-0 in the hosts’ favour. West Brom gambled on including the just arrived Peter Odemwingie in their starting eleven, and the 2 mn pound signing from Lokomotiv Moscow delivered.

Odemwingie scored the only goal of the match with 10 minutes of regulation time left in the game, and that was enough to secure 3 full points for his team.

Earlier, Odemwingie missed an easy scoring opportunity, barely seen minutes into the game, when he collected Brunt’s through ball but failed to beat Mignolet between Sunderland’s posts.

While Odemwingie was the stand out performer on either side, Brunt, Mulumbu, Cech, Tamas and Olsson, all had a good day at the office, for West Brom.

For Sunderland, it was a familiar tale about a poor performance on the road. Barring Bent, upfront, and Onuoha and Bramble in the back-line, it was a mediocre showing, overall, by Steve Bruce’s squad.

The only scoring opportunity for the Black Cats was a header that Onuoha failed to convert.

Head to head, Sunderland have established a 9-4 advantage over Albion, in the last 19 league games played between the sides, with the remaining 6 matches drawn.

In their last 10 league games, Sunderland have registered 2 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses; West Brom have won 3 of their last 10, while losing 3 and drawing the remaining 4. Of their 15 home games this season, Sunderland have won 6, drawn 5 and lost 4, while West Brom have won 3 of their 15 games on the road, while losing 9 and drawing the remaining 3.

In match week 31, Sunderland lost 5-0 away to Manchester City; West Brom beat Liverpool 2-1 at home.

Both teams appear headed for a mid-table finish, with 12th placed Sunderland just one rung above 13th ranked Albion. A win for either side will help keep the team farther away from the relegation mine, with Albion barely 4 points adrift of 18th placed West Ham. Steve Bruce’s squad, in particular, will be anxious to put their home advantage to good use.

Sunderland’s starting eleven against Manchester City had the following players: Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, Mensah, Ferdinand, Cattermole, Henderson, Muntari, Sessegnon, Gyan and Wellbeck. El Mohamady, Colback and Zenden played as substitutes.

West Brom had the following men in their starting eleven against Liverpool: Carson, Reid, Meite, Olsson, Shorey, Scharner, Mulumbu, Brunt, Cox, Thomas and Odemwingie. Jara and Fortune featured as substitutes.

Premier League match time returns to The Hawthorns as West Brom get set to host Liverpool in match week 30 on Saturday, April 2, in a second leg game of the Premier League.

Liverpool hosted the first leg on August 29, a match that the hosts won 1-0. A volley by Torres on 65 minutes was the only goal scored on the day, and it marked the end of a goal draught for Torres who had last scored in April.

Liverpool looked colourless in the first half, and Albion contrasted the Merseysiders with an impressive performance that was a vast improvement over their showing the previous week at Stamford Bridge where they were outclassed 6-0 by champions Chelsea.

Despite the return of senior players, Gerrard, Agger, Jovanovic and Torres, from injury, Liverpool were unimpressive and played like mid-table teams with their over-reliance on long balls. For West Brom, Mulumbu was brilliant as a defensive midfielder, while James Morrison and Graham Dorrans were equally effective in attack.

Albion, for all their improved showing, did not have that extra they needed to cause the Merseysiders any problems. Manager Di Matteo was aggrieved with referee Lee Probert’s refusal to grant penalties following appeals from Albion. The first one transpired when Olsson was brought down by Skrtel, the second, when Tchoyi was manhandled by Paulsen. Albion suffered a missed scoring opportunity when Jara at the far post failed to score after being fed the ball by Fortune.

The winning goal for Liverpool was the logical culmination of a brilliant counter move, when Kuyt found Torres on the edge of Albion’s box.

Head to head, Liverpool have established a 9-0 clean sweep of wins in as many league games that have been played between the teams.

In their last 10 league games, West Brom have registered 2 wins, and drawn and lost 4 games each; Liverpool have won 6 of their last 10, while losing and drawing 4 each.. Of their 15 home games this season, West Brom have won 5, drawn 6 and lost 4, while Liverpool have won 4 of their 14 games on the road, while losing 9 and drawing the remaining 2.

In match week 30, West Brom drew 2-2 against Arsenal at home; Liverpool won 2-0 away against Sunderland.

On current form, West Brom will have their hands full against a hungry Liverpool — currently placed sixth — seeking a European qualification.

West Brom’s starting eleven against Arsenal had the following players: Carson, Reid, Meite, Olsson, Shorey, Scharner, Mulumbu, Brunt, Morrison, Thomas and Odemwingie. Forutune and Cech were used as substitutes.

Liverpool had the following men in their starting eleven against Sunderland: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Kuyt, Meireles, Lucas, Spearing, Carroll and Suarez. Ngog, Maxi and Cole featured as substitutes.

Raul scored a penalty goal against Espanyol making it 200 La Liga goals joining an elite group of players that have scored 200 and more including ex Real stars, Hugo Sanchez and Alfredo Di Stefano.

The «king of Spain» as I like to call him is the 5th highest goal scorer ever in La Liga and he needs 52 more goals to be all time leading goalscorer.

It is debatable if he would ever achieve this honour as he is 30 years of age now and he is not getting any better. Some would say he is back to his best as he is having a good season but if the truth be told he has peaked and at this point in time he is just the best that he can be not back to his very best.

He has had 3 wasted years where I feel that he would have easily been the league’s highest ever goalscorer by now if not for that period. His problems seem to start from the obsession of Real Madrid presidents had with the so called galaticos. A term used to describe football players of immense popularity and marketing ability.

This was fine with the acquisitions of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane as they always played the ball on the ground and depended more on skill than pace which was fine with Raul.

By the time, Ronaldo and then David Beckham were bought then Real’s style of play changed with Beckham always looking for the long accurate punts that suited the more athletic and quick Ronaldo than it did Raul. Raul found himself being part of a cog to feed Ronaldo rather than in a system that suited his style of play. It was alleged that he fell out of love with the game and his damaging knee ligaments did not help his mood either. All in all it was a bad time at Madrid with there been reports of 2 camps. Raul, Guti, Michel Salgado and others said to be in 1 and Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Robinho and others said to be in the other although Carlos was more friendly towards the Raul camp than Ronaldo was.

The arrival of Fabio Capello and the subsequent leaving of Ronaldo helped to alleviate the tension at Real Madrid as far as raul was concerened and he appeared to get back his appetite for the game.

It is no coincidence that this season with Raul playing where he likes and mainly just supporting Ruud Van Nistlerooy that his goal output has improved again because last season under Fabio Capello, even though his fitness improved he was played far from the opposition’s goal as it was either in midfield or in the wings.

It has been said in the past and even Guillem Ballague, sky sports’ Spanish football expert stated that Raul is a player that is not a perfect 10 in any capacity as he felt Raul could not dribble, did not possess great pace or could use his right foot.

I have heard all this before labelled against Raul that he did not excel with any particular attribute but I disagree strongly. At his best and that was before Alex Ferguson put the kibosh on his career by labelling him the best player in the world after he tore apart Manchester United; he was the most intelligent striker in the world as he seemed to have a computer for a brain.

He knew instinctively when to lob a goalkeeper or when to round him and he really should have won the European footballer of the year on countless occasions. After all if Michael Owen can be awarded such an award then so should Raul.

He may not have been blessed with blistering pace and frankly I do not understand some people’s obsession with pacy players but he was a great player when he was at his very best. He could dribble past opponents on a 1 on 1 basis as much as any striker out there and his 1st touch was better than any striker out there save for Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus.

Perhaps he could not go past 3 or 4 opponents and unlike players like Thierry Henry, he could not exploit space afforded him because of his lack of blistering pace but unlike Henry he could exploit a modicum of room afforded him as he could turn on a sixpence and make something happen out of nothing.

He is the highest ever goalscorer in the Champions’ league with 61 goals and his country’s highest goalscorer with 44 goals in 102 matches. He is widely respected in Spain and I guess by the whole football community as 1 of the greatest if not the greatest Spanish player of all time.

When the tournament started, the only group being discussed was the group of death, i.e. group C. The group contained last world cup’s defeated finalist’s France, the world cup champions Italy, Nederland’s and Romania.

As the tournament is coming to an end, none of the teams in the group of death is or was present in the semi-finals or the finals. In the end what happened to the teams that showed so much promise at the beginning. Let us look at the team’s performance…

Italy- as the world cup winners, they were believed to go long in the tournament. In the qualifiers they topped the group in front of France. In the euros, they were just not able to perform although they had the services of Luca Toni, the top scorer in the Bundesliga. The reasons being, Italian team consisted of old blood rather than the young, with the likes of Ambrosini, Gattuso and lack of creativity since the absence of Totti. All these factors contributed to the downfall of the Italians.

France- coached by Raymond Domenech, with the absence of Zidane, the French lacked creativity. In the tournament they were unable to score goals even with the presence of Thierry Henry. Performance given by the French was just very ordinary and they never looked like pregressing. France played boring football throughout the tournament and thus were not able to conquer.

Nederland- this was the last tournament for Marco Van Basten as the coach of the Oranje. They did very well in the tournament as they did not have a very fruitful tournament.

They were ordinary in the qualifiers but somehow manage to score some well crafted goals of the tournament. They were just outclassed by the Russians in the quarter finals, were their tournament finally ended.

Romania- the underdogs of the group, they gave a very good account of themselves. If they had defeated the Dutch, they would have qualified for the quarter finals. In the end they were just not able to find that effort but none the less, they had a pretty good tournament.

In the end, the only actual losers of the tournament were Italy, Nederland’s and France. Analysis over.

The Akita is one of the «Northern Breeds». Characteristically these breeds sport a dense double coat, brushy in nature, with upright ears and tightly curled tail. This type of look is called the «spitz» type and there are many breeds with these characteristics. The majority of these breeds have a lot of guarding instinct in their backgrounds.

The Akita has long been used as a general guard dog, stemming originally from the country of Japan, where for many centuries it has been revered . In 1931 this dog was designated as a National Monument in Japan and is considered one of the country’s national treasures. It is the largest of the Japanese breeds. It has been used as a working breed, guarding the family home and also as a hunter of bear, deer and wild boar. For many centuries it was used as fighting dog in Japan until that «sport» was outlawed.

The magnificent plush coat and often distinctive markings of this dog are qualities which have made it a favorite in the show ring. Furthermore, an Akita has a majestic appearance and if it is bred well and true to type it moves with a grace which makes it a breathtakingly beautiful sight in the Conformation Ring. Akitas throughout the years have placed high in the Group at Westminster and Crufts and other such shows. All over the world, the Akita is admired and has an enthusiastic following at a dog show.

The Akita is aggressive towards other dogs. The temperament is strong and independent and early obedience training is a must. Thus it is not a dog for a family or owner who does not participate regularly in training and who do not establish themselves as the «leader of the pack». The Akita is widely known for its loyalty and faithfulness to its family. It will «expect respect» and it will give respect back to its owners two fold. Its history is that of primarily a guard dog and care must be taken that it is taught from the beginning to obey. This breed is strong, large and has great strength of jaw. Proper training is an absolute necessity.

If it is going to be living with children, it is important that it be brought up with the children to start with. When it is a part of the family it will be very loyal and loving. The Akita is not a dog that adapts well to new owners and placing this dog in a second home in later life makes it difficult if it should end up in a shelter. It is also essential that it has plenty of exercise for it is a big dog who needs plenty of room. Thus it is important that breeders who sell these puppies be aware that the new owners must be of the right type to own this distinctive and special breed and that they will make life time homes for the dog. If nothing else, responsible breeders will always have a «return without question» clause in their contract.

Every country is unique in a certain way. And to understand the culture of a country you must have experienced this culture. Culture is something that is so extent, that in order to opinion about it you need to be very focused. For example, by comparing one specific aspect of the culture with the culture you know best — that of you native country.

Without this focus, Argentinean culture would give an enormous amount of views. Ask for example someone in the street about Argentina and you will hear: Tango. And maybe also, Buenos Aires, Evita, Military Coups, Borges, Once one of the Wealthiest countries or … Maradona, Soccer.

Culture is about what keeps people together in a community or society (the internal aspect). How strong is this internal binding? But culture is also about how this group interacts with others groups and cultures. For the first aspect it is important to know that Argentina is a country with a very high historic immigration level:

• «In the peak period of the world’s oversee migration, 1821-1932, six countries absorbed 90 per cent of the total, and among these six, Argentina ranked second in the number of immigrants, with a total of 6,405,000. Between 1857 and 1958 the main source of immigrants to Argentina were Italy and Spain accounting for 46 and 33 percent, respectively, of the total. (www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/1/90.01.06.x.html)

Despite this high level of immigration, the Argentinean culture is quite (and comparatively) strong.

For the second element — the interaction of the group with / against others — Argentina is very much a competing culture, whereas the Dutch culture is much more consensus based and cooperative. The fighting spirit — so to say — is much more part of the Argentinean culture that that of the Dutch.

Argentina won the world cup twice. The first time they could celebrate in 1978 (against The Netherlands) and the second time in 1986, they were too strong for West Germany.

Holland participated twice in the world cup finals. In both cases they finished second best. This is where they could learn from the Argentinean Culture.

© 2006 Hans Bool