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Well, according to theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics he is, just ahead of Ferguson and Mourinho. I'm sure that the fluid attacking style he has defined at Arsenal are great for the entertainment of the crowd and of the persons watching football on the TV, but I find it a little strange that he is the winner without any important European success.
Molding so many talented young players into real world class players is one of his qualities, but is that enough? In my opinion, it is not in the pure sense of football, maybe just in the sense of achieving financial success but with glory still missing from the Emirates Stadium.
With Euro 2012 cluttering up the brain matter reserved for the not-so-fond-memories of most of us, and the Olympics just around the corner, things are slowly heating up in the build-up to the 2012/13 English Premier League. Champions and this season’s Premier League betting favourites Manchester City have had the purse-strings drawn tightly thus far, with Roberto Mancini maintaining he will not disrupt the team in any major way during this transfer window, but expect late action in the form of moves for RVP and at least two other big-name signings. He must clear some deadweight first, however.
Chelsea lead the way in the summer spending stakes so far, showing serious intent to build upon their epic Champions League success with some shrewd business in luring Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Oscar to Stamford Bridge.
Last season’s narrowly-defeated big-guns, Manchester United aim to bolster their ageing midfield and have made some positive inroads with the signings of Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell. A reliable defensive midfielder and perhaps another centre-half should see them mount another strong challenge this time ‘round.
Arsenal, with the imminent departure of RVP should have some spare cash in the kitty to strengthen their squad and have already signed a couple of impressive attacking replacements in the form of Podolski and Giroud.
Expect reformed challenges from Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool and Andres Vila Boas’ Spurs as both new gaffers attempt to introduce a new style of football to their respective clubs. It’ll be interesting to see how this particular head-to-head unfolds and it’ll be fascinating to see who prevails when it comes to challenging for the coveted Champions League spots come next May.
There’s still plenty of time remaining in this transfer window, with late drama sure to unfold, as always. If you’re having a flutter, online bookies Paddy Power are offering some great odds on a wide range of football markets.
Why not let us know your thoughts on how you think the world’s most exciting league will pan out over the next eight months? There’s bound to be highs, there’s bound to be lows and one other constant remains – The Big Football will be following every punt, kick and tackle along the way!
I just saw a good match, maybe not as good as I was hoping, but all in all a good watch. United started with a team that was almost unrecognizable, with Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck. It seems that after last year's Champions League final, Ferguson is trying to bring some fresh blood to his first eleven, and today was a perfect example for that if you look at the substitutes bench where he left Rooney, Nani, Anderson and Hernandez between others.
Liverpool was the team that seemed to want the win more, but that didn't help with anything until the second half when Gerrard scored from a free kick. Soon after, Sir Alex Ferguson moved and brought Rooney and Nani on, and also Hernandez a few minutes later. Although after these three changes United equalized from a corner through Hernandez, Liverpool was still the team having the good chances but not the second goal.
The plus: Luis Suarez is an incredible player. In a match with two managers focused on tactics and strong players, his technique and speed in controlling the ball recommend him as one of the best players in the world at the moment.
The minus: I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the fans, from what I can remember, Liverpool supporters used to be incredible. Today they were nothing special.
There will be a new category of posts here. Every week we will write about a random match, and I will start today with Liverpool - Manchester United (which starts in less then an hour), but as the weeks go by, you might find all kinds of unheard teams being commented, from Argentina to Moldova.
A lot of opportunities arise from such an experiment: discovering talented young players from all over the world, learning about the football in different countries (especially in leagues that are not really talked about at international level), and overall expanding our football culture.
Random Match of the Week: Liverpool - Manchester United
Playing at Anfield, Liverpool has to win if they want to have a title bid this year, while Manchester United seems concerned of staying in the top place of the Premier League.
In one of the best starts in history Manchester United is leading the pack in the English Premier League in a stylish manner.
What brought them there? Probably the efficiency of the team. Eleven wins and eight draws brought them 41 points. They showed consistent strength for a long period of time, as opposed to Chelsea who only managed to bring home 7 point in the last 8 fixtures. Liverpool isn't doing very good either, with 25 points they are far from the top spots in the league.
At the time the only real contenders for the Red Devils seem to be Manchester City and Arsenal, but the season still has a lot to go and everything is possible. Let's hope they can produce some good quality football to make the Premier League a little more interesting.
I know we are still in the first part of the football season but it seems to me that some changes might occur at the top of the football chain. Some teams that always have made a good impression are getting worse.
Some examples are Bayern Munchen and AC Milan. Both teams played in the UEFA Cup in recent years and this year they are having weak runs in the domestic leagues with Bayern in 6th position and Milan in 8th. The Germans are also having trouble in the Champions League with 3 points in 3 matches, a competition where Milan shoved they are still breathing after beating the high investors from Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.
Another team that has problems and all the football blogs around the world are talking about is FC Liverpool. Rafa Benitez is a great manager, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2005 and reaching the final again in 2007, but now everyone is talking about him being sacked. I would not do it, maybe because I'm a fan of continuity. I know he bought most of the players the club has and who else could then know them better and get them out of the mess sooner than him?
Valencia, another team that always was between the big shoot is nowhere in sight now, and the money problems they have are still hurting them.
I guess the teams that will replace them are the ones bought by big investors like Manchester City, Chealsea and teams from the Eastern block like Shaktar and Dynamo Kiev from Ukraine and the Russian teams, who make transfer that could be envied by anyone.
This is a list with the top 10 football derbies in Europe, each with a little history and some graphical information. To make it clear a derby is a match between teams from the same city, so no, Barcelona - Real and such other very important and fascinating games will not be on the list. I will focus more on the rivalry and not really on international results.
1. Fenerbahce - Galatasaray, the derby of Istanbul, a city split up in two sides, one in Europe and one in Asia.
Always a very spectacular match as these two teams always go for the title, and if the game might get boring at times, the atmosphere in the stadium will not fail to impress you, the clip will say more than I can say in words.
2. AS Roma - Lazio Roma Il derby Capitolino, from the city of Rome is probably the most political derby on the list, left vs right.
Two teams that aren't really full of trophies but in a city as big as Rome there is adrenaline and lots of chaos before the start of the game. The political factor plays an important part in this one and that is maybe what makes this derby so intense.
3. Celtic FC - Rangers FC also named The Old Firm derby, from the city of Glasgow, one of the oldest in the world and all about religion, Catholics - Protestants.
A game full of hate mainly because of the religious history of the match, Celtic having Irish roots (hence the colors) and thus being Catholic and the conservative Rangers see themselves as more Scottish and protestant. I'm sure you know about all the religious problems in Ireland, well it seems that Glasgow has also been influenced, and in a strong way.
4. Olympiakos Piraeus - Panathinaikos Athens The Eternal Enemies, probably one of the most intense matches in the stands.
If you want great atmosphere and great football then this is a game that you should not miss. With a lot of investments made in football in recent history, Greek football is sure to catch up with the western part of Europe.
5. Red Star Belgrade - Partizan Belgrade the Veciti Derbi, always a very violent match in which wounded policemen is not something rare.
As I already mentioned this is probably the most violent match from this list, arrests, injured and even casualties every time the match is played.
6. Arsenal FC - Tottenham Hotspur the North London derby, probably the most important rivalry in England a country full of local derbies.
First match in 1887, I don't really have a reason why I consider this match the most important in English football but I love it, so much passion.
7. AC Milan - Internazionale Milano Derby Della Madonnina, the match in which the best teams from Milan fight for glory and prestige.
Maybe the most followed derby from the list around the world, 2 teams with great history and even greater prestige. It might not appeal to everyone because of all the tactics that Italian football teaches but nonetheless a match that I hope to see live in this lifetime.
8. Benfica - Sporting Lisbon the O Clássico, the derby of the capital city between teams with a lot of trophies.
Huge trophy rooms and huge support for the two teams from the capital city of Portugal. The stadiums will surely be full when these two teams go head to head and as EURO 2004 was held in Portugal they both have new and beautiful stadiums. Estadio da Luz for Benfica and Jose de Alvalade for Sporting.
9. Spartak Moscow - CSKA Moscow teams with a lot of support in Russia not only the capital.
Spartak has won about everything in Russia in the ninetees but recently CSKA has made up ground by winning the League in 2002 and 2006. There is a lot of money invested in Russian football and that is making them go further in Europe, like Zenit winning the UEFA Cup and the national side doing an impressive job at EURO 2008. Be sure to watch this one.
10. Dinamo Bucharest - Steaua Bucharest the Great Derby, a rivalry that started in the communist era and was basically the Police vs Army.
With both teams founded in the communist regime they always had the support of politicians and generals, basically all the good players were playing for them and the national side was a mix. This has made the derby quaite decesive for winning the League and most people from Romania picking one of them to support. With two romanian teams in the UEFA Champions League this year (CFR Cluj and Steaua) it seems that the quality of the football is on the rise and you also should follow the explosive fans in the stands.
England and France had the start today and here are the big matches:
In the Premier League Arsenal won against Wes Bromwich at home with the new kid in the team Nasri scoring the winning goal early on. Also Liverpool won away at Sunderland with Torres scoring for them, let us see if he can have a better season than the last one in which he crowned himself European Champion along the Spanish national squad, he had a good start with a late winning goal in the 83rd minute in this match.
The team that wants to break the dominance of the Big Four teams by singning top players and not really by results (Tottenham) lost at Boro 2-1 so it seems like another year of frustration could be in line for them. To bad!
In the Ligue I two of the better known teams Nantes and Monaco had a draw that ended 1-1. PSG won against Bordeaux, Hoarau with the winning goal and maybe PSG will have a better season this time around.
Also lets mention the results from the Olympics Quarter Final:
Brazil 2-0 Cameroon
Italy 2-3 Belgium in a great game, Belgium coming from behind with 10 players on the field
Argentina 2-1 Holland in a clash between 2 favorites to win the medal
Nigeria 2-0 Ivory Coast.
