Chelsea FC Season Review 2010-11

After a highly successful first season under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, in which the Blues completed their first ever Premier League winners and FA Cup winners double, there were naturally high expectations for the 2010-11 season. The Blues were many peoples favourite to win the Premier League title again.

Chelsea started the season as they had finished the last, in emphatic style, as the beat West Brom 6-0 with Didier Drogba scoring a hat-trick. The Blues looked cohesive and composed and the following week they recorded another 6-0 victory away at Wigan, winning their first five consecutive Premier League games, by the end of October Chelsea had won eight of the first ten League games, including a victory against Arsenal, and they were showing great form, even at this stage, many thought they would easily retain the Premier League title they had won the season before.

Unfortunately the Blues lost their way in the November following injuries to John Terry and Frank Lampard and the many attributed their sudden loss of form to the unexpected departure of assistant coach Ray Wilkins who left the club at the beginning of November. Achieving only two victories from their next eleven games, saw Chelsea endure their worst run of form for over ten seasons, which included a 0-3 home defeat against Sunderland.

January saw the arrival of £50 million Fernando Torres from Liverpool, which became a record transfer fee for a player between two English clubs. Unfortunately it wasn’t the dream move that everyone had hoped for as his poor form which he experienced at Liverpool continued at Chelsea. Torres only scored one goal and often seemed to struggle with the Blues formations and style of play, often cutting a lonely figure on the pitch.

By the time Chelsea faced Manchester United at the beginning of March they could have fallen 15 points behind the Reds in the race for the title, but a heroic second half performance saw the Blues secure a dramatic 2-1 victory. Seven wins from their next eight league games saw Chelsea make a late push for title glory, which would have secured one of the most dramatic Premier League titles in recent history. Defeat against United at Old Trafford brought their amazing run to an end and sealed their fate of finishing in second place in the league.

Chelsea were also beaten by Manchester United in the Champions League quarter finals, a defeat that effectively sealed the fate of manager Carlo Ancelotti, and he was sacked moments after the final game of the season against Everton

The Blues will now search for a new coach and look to rebuild their squad for next season and speculation on the future of some of the teams older players will also be in focus, as Chelsea will again strive for domestic honours and the elusive Champions league glory.

Arsenal FC Season Review 2010-11

This season mirrored many others of the previous few seasons, as Arsenal again displayed beautiful stylish, flowing football and they produced some memorable nights at the Emirates Stadium, including the defeat of Barcelona in the Champions League group stage and an emphatic victory over Chelsea.

The optimism of the early season was short-lived as Arsenal again finished the season without a trophy, the Gunners finished in fourth place in the Premier League, which will now require them to qualify for next years Champions League group stages.

Like so many of the previous seasons in recent years, the Gunners season was full of promise and they looked certain to win their first trophy for six years when they faced a lowly Birmingham side at Wembley Stadium in the Carling Cup Final in February, but Arsenal were surprisingly defeated by a determined, tough tackling Birmingham side, who showed a resilience that Arsenal have sadly lacked over recent years. The defeat in the Carling Cup Final appeared to shock the team and their confidence evaporated, as their season finished with a whimper.

Even the most fervent Arsenal fan must now begin to question the policies and management of Arsene Wenger, who enjoyed so much success during his early season with the club. Failure to correct obvious problems within the central defence and a lack of tenacity within the team, took its toll as the season progressed. Many fans have refused to criticise the manager in previous seasons, but now most realists will admit that any criticism are justified.

Wenger has vowed to continue with the club’s policy of developing their own players and refusing to spend huge amounts in the transfer market, unlike many of their Premiership rivals. This decision will place the manager under huge pressure next season, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and even Liverpool set to spend large amounts on players during the summer months.

Arsenal are still credited with playing beautiful football and have continued with the development of several young players, including Jack Wilshere who is set to become a leading player for both club and country in the years to come. Wojciech Szczesny is proving that he has the talent to become the reliable goalkeeper that Arsenal have been seeking for several seasons.

Arsenal’s activity in the transfer market this summer will be closely watched, failure to make the right signings could be a defining moment for their manager, as the fans who pledge their allegiance to the manager and display banners around the stadiums reading «In Arsene we trust» they may finally lose patience.

EPL Team Profile – Tottenham

The formal name of the club is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, or Tottenham Hotspur FC. They are also referred to as the Spurs, or the Lilywhites. Founded in 1882 as Hotspur FC, the squad train at their home venue, at White Hart Lane, with its capacity of about 36,000. ENIC International Ltd. owns the squad whose chairman is Daniel Levy. Spurs are managed by Harry Redknapp, popularly known as just ‘Arry. The club enjoyed their best period in top flight English football between the 60’s and the 80’s, and became the first in the 20th century to win both the League and FA Cup, but they are yet to win the Premier League.

They finished fourth in the Premier League standings, last season, their best ever performance in the Premiership. In the three matches played so far in the ongoing season, Spurs have recorded a draw against Manchester City, and a win against Stoke city, both creditable efforts. However, they let themselves down, somewhat, losing 1-0 to relegation favourites Wigan.

Early Season Preview:

The last season saw Tottenham hit a high their fans had been predicting they would, for a long time. Although a top four finish seemed always on the cards, it still caused surprise when Spurs actually got there. The club went into a period of decline under the stewardship of Juande Ramos. So credit should justifiably go to Harry Redknapp for getting the squad back on the rails. The squad that played in the third match of the season against Wigan Athletic comprised: Cudicini, Kaboul, Bale, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, King, Lennon, Huddlestone, Crouch, Palacios, Defoe, Bassong, Kranjcar, Alnwick, Keane, Giovani, Jenas, and Pavlyuchenko.

In Jermaine Defoe, Spurs have a prolific scorer of goals, the most important ingredient in winning matches. Tottenham have never been short of big name players but have been outclassed where it matters most — in scoring goals. And Defoe is capable of changing that perception, as he proved last season. Last season was the first for winger Danny Rose and he made an immediate impact, with a early goal against Arsenal in the only match he played. This season, Rose should be in the news for Spurs more often than not.

Redknapp has been a little slow working the transfer market. A possible reason for that could be his preoccupation with James Milner’s impending departure for Manchester City. But that hasn’t stopped ‘Arry from acquiring Internacional’s Sandro for £6 mn. There is also talk about a late bid for Real Madrid’s Rafael van der Vaart, apart from a shock move for Arsenal striker Adebayor.

Things should become clearer in the coming days about the final composition of the squad, as the transfer window has shut, finally. In spite of their great 2009-10 season and the undoubted calibre of their squad, they could be trumped by the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, in their bid for a top four spot. Redknapp may also be hoping he has beaten the transfer window deadline with his late offers, as those players could have a bearing on how far Spurs can go the season.

Premier League Preview: Arsenal Vs Blackburn

Premier League match time returns to the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal set to host Blackburn in match week 30 on Saturday, April 2, in the second leg of their premier league meetings.

The first, hosted by Blackburn on August 28, 2010, ended 2-1 in the visitors’ favour. Arsenal took an early lead when Walcott scored for the Gunners on 20 minutes. M Diouf soon equalised, about seven minutes later, and the two sides went into the interval on level terms. About six minutes after the break, Arshavin scored what was to be the winner for Arsena Wenger’s charges.

Arsenal dominated the game after a bit of a shaky start during which Blackburn managed to force two corners. Blackburn fans would not hesitate to admit that the better team won, in the end. In fact, Walcott could have added to the score, with an easy scoring opportunity, in the dying minutes of the game going a begging.

That said, both the Arsenal goals resulted primarily from lapses in concentration from Blackburn payers; Jones the culprit, in case of the first goal, and El Hadji the guilty party, with respect to the second. Strangely, substitutions appeared not to work at all for Blackburn, and in fact had quite the opposite effect to what was intended. One of the problems for Blackburn has been the absence of an effective midfielder, with Dunn proving chronically injury prone.

M Diouf was impressive in attack and troubled the inexperienced Arsenal backline that was marshalled on the day by Vermaelen. That said, Arsenal managed to cope well with the aerial threat that Blackburn posed. Apart from the initial minutes of the game, when Blackburn earned a couple of corners, Arsenal keeper Almunia wasn’t tested much.

Head to head, Arsenal have established a 14-3 advantage in the last 19 league games played between the sides, with the remaining 2 matches drawn.

In their last 10 league games, Arsenal have registered 5 wins and draws each; Blackburn have won and drawn 2 each of their last 10, while losing 6. Of their 15 home games this season, Arsenal have won 10, drawn 2 and lost 3, while Blackburn have won 3 of their 14 games on the road, while losing 11 and drawing the remaining one.

In match week 30, Arsenal drew 2-2 away against West Brom; Blackburn drew 2-2 against Blackpool at home.

Arsenal need to win the game to stay in contention for the title, with leader Manchester United having moved 5 points adrift of the Gunners. Blackburn will have difficulty salvaging any points from the game.

Arsenal’s starting eleven against West Brom had the following players: Almunia, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy, Wilshere, Denilson, Ramsey, Nasri, Arshavin and van Persie. Chamakh and Bendtner featured as substitutes.

Blackburn had the following men in their starting eleven against Blackpool: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Olsson, Emerton, Nzonzi, Jones, Diouf, Santa Cruz and Hoillett. Jones, Pederson and Roberts were used as substitutes.

Premier League Match Time: Blackburn Rovers Vs Sunderland

Blackburn Rovers are set to host Sunderland at Ewood Park on Monday. In the game against the Black Cats, the Rovers will not have the services of the following players who are sidelined owing to injury: Dunn and Grella.

The sides are level on points; while Sunderland are eleventh on the table, Blackburn are thirteenth. But while Sunderland have just the solitary loss away to West Brom, Blackburn have three, one of those coming at home at Ewood Park.

Blackburn passing and shooting have been below par, with barely 60% (the lowest in the league this season) finding their target. Shots at target are also low in number with only Wolves ranking below Blackburn in this criterion.

That said, Sunderland’s away record in recent times has been very bad, with the Black cats winning just two out of 32 games played. And of the last ten matches played against Blackburn, Sunderland have only won two.

Sunderland also have injury concerns with the following players yet to recover from their respective injuries: Campbell and Maylor. In some good news for the club, Richardson and Mensah who were earlier on the list of injured players have been declared fit to play.

There is also a question mark over Darren Bent’s match fitness and manager Steve Bruce could take a late call on Bent’s inclusion in the team for Monday’s match, as the striker is key to the squad’s success. Bent withdrew from England’s Euro 20102 qualifier match against Montenegro on Tuesday, with a groin injury.

Steve Bruce will also have to decide on his first choice of goalkeeper, with Craig Gordon returning to the squad. Mignolet, who took charge between the posts when the Scot broke an arm ahead of the season, has done very well, especially against Manchester United aganst whom he kept a clean slate.

The following men comprised the Rovers’ starting eleven in their match against Stoke City on October 2: Paul Robinson, Salgado, Christopher Samba, Ryan Nelsen, Gael Givet, Bryan Emerton, Steven Nzonzi, Jones, Morten Gamst Pedersen, El-Hadji Diouf, Mame Diouf

The substitutes were: Hoilett, Nikola Kalinic, Martin Olsson, Keith Andrews, David Dunn, Chimbonda, Mwaruwari

Sunderland included the following players in their starting eleven in the game against Manchester United on October 2: Simon Mignolet, Nedum Onuoha, Michael Turner, Titus Bramble, Phillip Bardsley, Steed Malbranque, Lee Cattermole, Jordan Henderson, Boudewijn Zenden, Darren Bent, Ahmed Elmohamady

The substitutes were: Craig Gordon, Andy Reid, John Mensah, Cristian Riveros, Paulo Da Silva, Anton Ferdinand, Asamoah Gyan

Premier League Preview – Newcastle Vs Stoke

Newcastle United will host Stoke City at St James’ Park, this Sunday, in what will be the sixth match of their Premiership campaign.

Ahead of the game, Newcastle are gung-ho, thanks to a mid-week 4-3 win over Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, in the Carling Cup. Ironically, Newcastle also lost at home to Blackpool, in the Premier League.

Chris Hughton’s squad have scored eleven goals in the first five matches of their Premiership season. Their defence has stood up when it counted and conceded just four goals, to give the Magpies a healthy goal difference.

Contrast that with Stoke’s six goals for, and eight goals against. Seven of those came in the first 45 minutes of the matches in which they transpired.

The Potters have been up and down this season. Following a last-gasp away win against Villa, they drew at home against West Ham.

James Perch will return to the Newcastle squad, from suspension. Sol Campbell who played the entire duration of the Carling Cup game is also likely to start. ‘Keeper Steve Harper has been advised 12 weeks’ rest after shoulder surgery.Tim Krul is likely to replace him.

Danny Simpson and Danny Guthrie have not returned to match fitness from their respective shoulder and knee injuries. Newcastle will also miss Steven Taylor nursing a shoulder injury and Dan Gosling who has a knee concern.

For Stoke, regular players should return to the starting eleven after they were rested during the Carling Cup match loss to Fulham, mid-week, chief among them is ‘keeper James Sorensen. Abdoulaye Faye will bolster the back line, while the forward line should benefit from John Walters’ return.

Manager Tony Pulis will also welcome winger Jermaine Pennant returning from a hamstring injury.

The Potters last won at St James’ in 1976. Their last win against the Magpies came in 1989, when they prevailed 2-1 in a Division 2 game. The sides have drawn three of their last four league and cup games.

Caroll is Newcastle’s man of the season, with four goals in five matches, while Jones has scored just one for the Potters in their five.

Stoke should consider themselves lucky if they got away with a draw; Newcastle should consider it as an opportunity lost if they didn’t bank three points from the game.

Newcastle will probably field these players in their starting eleven: Krul, Enrique, Williamson, Coloccini, Perch, Ben Arfa, Nolan, Barton, Routledge, Ameobi, Caroll

The Stoke City starting eleven will probably be: Sorensen, Collins, Faye, Shawcross, Huth, Etherington, Delap, Whitehead, WhelanJones, Walters.

Premier League Preview: Arsenal Vs Stoke

The Emirates will play host to Stoke City on Saturday, December 18, when the Potters take on Arsenal in match week 18.

The Gunners are coming off a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in match week 17, and the game exposed Arsenal’s tendency to choke against the big teams, and that could prove the biggest stumbling block to their title bid, this season. Barring a spell in the second half when Gunners established a pattern, they never looked like taking three points away from the game, as has been the case in their six previous meetings with the Red Devils, comprising five losses and a draw.

Blackpool brought Stoke’s five-match unbeaten run to an end, in match week 17. Stoke have arguably been the most inconsistent team this season, and the 1-0 score-line does little justice to describing Blackpool’s dominance on the day. The Seasiders ruled in midfield, their passing was crisp and they never allowed the Potters to settle.

While pre-season relegation favourites Blackpool have confounded the pundits, all season, their back-line has been porous. And the fact that Stoke could not breach their defence is a more eloquent commentary on the game than anything else. While Etherington and Fuller gave a good account of themselves up front, as did Begovic between the posts, near misses and a late assault could not prevent Tangerines from banking three points from the game.

Arsenal, who despite the loss at Old Trafford are in second place in the points table, have had a 3-1 advantage over 12th-placed Potters, in four past league meetings. The last game, in February 2010, ended 3-1 in Gunners’ favour.

While Arsene Wenger’s charges have won five of their eight home games, they have lost the remaining three. Stoke have not had a great record on the road, losing five of eight away games, while winning two and drawing the one.

Gunners will seek to atone for their loss to United by exploiting home advantage against Tony Pulis’s men who lack the fire-power to test Arsenal’s back-line, ramshackle as it has been this season. 

Arsenal had the following men in their starting eleven against Stoke:Szczesny, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Rosicky, Wilshere, Nasri, Chamakh and Arshavin. Walcott, Fabregas and van Persie featured as substitutes.

Stoke’s starting eleven against Blackpool comprised Begovic, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Collins,Pennant, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington, Jones and Fuller. Walters, Whelan and Sanli were the substitutes used.

Magic and Romance of the FA Cup

The English have always prided themselves in having the best domestic cup competition in the world but until this season there has been very little evidence of that claim.

But this season alone we have seen a non-league side like Havant and Waterlooville go to Anfield and take the lead against the mighty Liverpool before eventually losing gallantly by 5-2.

Luton Town, a team about to go into administration because of immense money problems holding Liverpool to a home draw, Oldham winning at high-flying Everton, Huddersfield being on level terms with Chelsea at half-time at Stamford Bridge and Barnsley going to Anfield an winning by 2-1 with the winning goal right at the death.

This and other results made Manchester United and Chelsea the clear favourites to win the FA Cup. By the quarter-final stage the draw pitted Manchester United at home to Portsmouth, Chelsea away to Barnsley, Middlesboro at home to Cardiff and West Brom at home to Bristol Rovers.

These meant 4 teams from the premiership, 3 from the championship and 1 from league one. You would have got long odds in not having 3 premiership sides in the semi-finals before the start of play but what transpired was so astonishing that most people still cannot believe it.

On Saturday, Portsmouth travelled to Manchester United hoping at most for a draw to take them back to Fratton Park but fate was to play a huge part. United missed a lot of chances in both halves but perhaps the most telling event was when goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Saar was uneable to come out for the 2nd half due to a groin injury and his replacement Tomasz Kuszczak was sent off for bringing down Milan Baros as he bore down on goal.

There was no doubt it was a penalty but the decision to send him off was very harsh as the rule states that if you deliberately stop a goal scoring opportunity then you have to be sent off but from replays it did show that Kuszczak accidentally brought down Baros and should have got a yellow card at most. Rio Ferdinand went in goal as there was no other goalkeeper on the bench but Sulley Muntari dispatched the penalty brilliantly to put the favourites out.

Another point that was controversial was that Wayne Rooney and Anderson were behind the goalkeeper so he was not the last man but Chris Kamara on Sky’s Goals on Sunday stated that the rules have been changed and it does not matter if you are the last man or not but later that day I did see Barcelona goalkeeper deliberately bring down Villareal’s Leo Franco thereby stopping a goal scoring opportunity with defenders like Gaby Milito and Lilian Thuram about but all he was shown was a yellow card.

The talking point was Cristiano Ronaldo being denied a penalty when Silvian Distin clearly barged into him in the penalty box. Personally I thought it was a foul but an indirect free kick in the penalty box as it was an obstruction and not a push. The game ended 1-0 to Portsmouth and Chelsea had a clear way to the FA Cup or so it seemed.

Chelsea kicked off in the evening against Barnsley confident that they would retain their trophy but Barnsley had other plans and almost totally dominated the premiership side before their striker Kayode Odejayi, who had not netted in 28 games, previously rose majestically to head home the winner to the astonishment and sheer delight of the Barnsley supporters and neutrals around the country.

If those were not enough, on Sunday, Cardiff City went to Middlesboro and totally outplayed the premiership side winning by 2-0 with Guy Whittingham scoring the goal of the round to put his side in front before Roger Johnson headed in the winning goal to make it 2 championship sides in the semi-final.

West Brom then defeated Bristol Rovers 5-1 to make it an astonishing 3 championship sides in the semis and 1 premiership side to bring the romance back to the FA Cup.

Premier League Match Time: Liverpool Vs Blackburn

Liverpool need a win badly and they will considering Blackburn’s visit to Anfield this Sunday as affording the perfect opportunity.

Blackburn’s poor record at Anfield is a factor in Liverpool’s favour. The Rovers last won in 1993 at the ground; of the fourteen matches played since then, nine have been won by the Merseysiders, with the remaining five drawn.

The off-field saga at Liverpool has taken its toll and the club are in relegation zone. Their solitary win against West Brom is long forgotten, and they have had a poor run in the five games after that one, with draws against Birmingham and Sunderland and losses to Manchester United, Everton and newbies Blackpool.

The best players at Anfield were rested against Napoli in Thursday’s Europa League game, and Hodgson’s strategy was clearly aimed at keeping his players fresh for the Blackburn game.

Torres and Gerard could be key to getting the Merseysiders campaign up and running now that the club has its new owners in place and the Gillett and Hicks saga consigned to history. The forwards will look for support from Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva in midfield as well as from Daniel Agger who were all rested during the Napoli game.

Glen Johnson was sidelined with a leg injury for a couple of games and Liverpool will want to see him recovered in time for Sunday’s match. Kuyt is yet to recover from his injury sustained in Holland’s Euro qualifier against Sweden.

Blackburn defender was sent off during their match against Sunderland and that’s a big blow for the Rovers ahead of the Liverpool game. Manager Sam Allardyce will take a late call on Ryan Nelsen’s fitness; Nelsen’s thigh injury saw him miss the game against the Black Cats. Assuming he recovers in time, Nelsen could fill in for Samba, alongside Gael Givet in the back-line.

Striker Benjani took a blow to his head in the Sunderland game and could also be subjected to a late fitness test. David Dunn is fit to play and is likely to be used as a substitute, while Keith Andrews groin operation will keep him out of the game against the Reds.

Liverpool are likely to go with the following men in their starting eleven: Reina, Carragher, Johnson, Konchesky, Skrtel, Poulsen, Meireles, Gerrard, Cole, Maxi, Torres

The following players are likely to comprise Blackburn’s first eleven: Robinson, Nelsen, Salgado,  Olsson, Givet, N’zonzi, Emerton, Pedersen, Jones, Kalinic, E Diouf

The Over and Under Bet

Nearly all online bookmakers these days over the over and under bet on their websites and it’s a betting option that is worth considering especially on football matches.

The over and under bet-sometimes known as betting the total-is a bet placed on the predicted outcome of a certain event. That outcome is normally the total number of combined points/goals scored in any particular match. In the UK the bet is available for sports like Rugby, tennis and most popularly football.

As with most bets the more you know about the sport, or the teams involved will help in making the decision over which over under bet to place. A bet of this type can be placed with no prior knowledge of the sport however and won’t put the bettor at a massive disadvantage.

The over under bet isn’t a complex bet to understand and involves only two options. For example say Liverpool are playing West Brom and the bookmaker is offering an over or under bet of 2.5 goals. The over 2.5 goals is at 4/5 and the under is 13/8. What the bettor has to predict is whether the total goals in the game will be more than 2.5 (Over) or less than 2.5 goals (Under). If you think Liverpool will win 3-1 then you would back the over 2.5 goals. If you think Liverpool will only win 1-0 then you would back the under 2.5 goals.

The 2.5 goals is the normal bet available from most bookmakers for football bets, but some do offer under and over’s at 1.5 goals and 3.5 goals.

The over and under bets can be available some weeks in advance of big events (cup finals, the super bowl etc) but punters need to be wary of placing this type of bet too early. Injuries to key players, suspensions and loss of goalscoring form can mean big shifts in the market can sometimes take place if a lot of money is placed on one of the two teams. Because of this it may be better to place your selection close to the start of the event.

The over and under is a simple bet that offers a decent alternative to a straight win especially if the odds on a win are prohibitive.