Archive for the ‘Football’ Category

Football, music

Vinyl psych revival – reissues incoming for The Orgone Box and The Monochrome Set

By Stefano on March 21st, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

orgone-boxPush comes to shove my favourite unheralded psych pop album of the 90s is the debut from the Orgone Box. It is a power pop tour de force where every track boasts a stellar tune, soaring harmonies and wonderfully psychedelic guitar.

The great news is that it is going to reissued shortly on vinyl. I know there is a CD version but In am not sure that it was ever released on vinyl which makes the news from SugarBush even more exciting.

The record will be out in May and according to the label the track listing is revised and there is one new track. The band’s main man Rick Corcoran has re-recorded a few of the 4 track numbers with new vocals and backing and there is also a totally new version of what is possibly the band’s signature song, Mirrorball.

It is limited to just 300 copies, so you may have to move quickly.

If you want to know why we rate is so highly read here – or just listen to Spotify.

monochriome set

Also coming shortly – in the middle of May to be precise – is The Monochrome Set’s – Volume, Contrast, Brilliance which is being reissued on vinyl courtesy of Optic Nerve Recordings who delivered the excellent Cleaners From Venus and The Charlottes albums a month or so ago.

The album is limited to 500 copies with the first 100 issued on blue and black vinyl, in homage to the op art sleeve. The further 400 will be on blue vinyl.

The album rounds up many of the best songs that the band produced in their early years which are presented here either as singles or session versions that they performed for the BBC. It includes the nearest thing they had to a hit, Jet Set Junta (kind of what Inspiral Carpets) might have sounded like if they had gone to Eton) their classic early single He’s Frank and the record they put out on the iconic El Records label, Reach for Your Gun.

It will set you back £14.99.



Tags: , , ,
Posted in Football, music | No Comments »

Football

Chelsea update: Yaya Toure and Radamel Falcao updates

By Stefano on March 21st, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

Well after yesterday’s revelation that Yaya Toure could be about to quit Mnan City the papers today are hinting that Chelsea could be favourites, alongside Real Madrid, to land the 29 year old.

ESPN suggests that Chelsea see Toure as the perfect replacement for England international Frank Lampard, who may or many no be with the club after the summer.

Chelsea are one of only a handful of clubs in the world who could afford to match Toure’s current wages which rank at £220,000 a week.

There doesn’t appear to be too much weight to this story, but it is one to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile the Express suggests that Chelsea are a step nearer signing Atletico Madrid’s sensational striker Radamel Falcao after the club had a secret meeting with the player at the weekend.

According to The Express Spanish TV station Punto Pelota claims a secret meeting between Atletico Madrid and Chelsea took place on Sunday to discuss a proposed move for Falcao. There are however a few sticking points namely that as part of any deal with Chelsea, the club want to keep Chelsea’s on loan goalkeeper Thiabut Courtois another year.

Falcao would be a hugely impressive addition to the Chelsea squad. Were Toure to sign too surely Chelsea would start the season being perceived as potential Premiership winners.



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Arsenal update: Corchia and Rangel lined up to replace Sagna, Benteke news

By Stefano on March 21st, 2013
2 comments

It now seems almost certain that Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna will be leaving the club in the summer window with PSG among the favourites to land the player.

But who will Arsenal line up to replace him? The big decision for Wenger is whether to promote the promising England youngster Carl Jenkinson, or to buy a first choice right back.

Goal.com claims that Wenger is set to buy a right back who can challenge Jenkinson and that Sochaux’s Sebastien Corchia and Swansea’s Angel Rangel are top of the list for now.

Corchia has represented France at Under-21, Under-19, Under-18 and Under-17 level, but ironically is being kept out of the full French team by Sagna. He has had an excellent season and at 22 is slightly older than Jenkinson.

If Wenger wants to plump for experience then 30 year old Rangel would be the better option. He has a contract until 2016.

One Premiership player that has certainly caught the eye this season is Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke. There are ongoing whispers that Benetke is keen to move to the north London club and his form of 22 goals this season in 37 appearances means that he is on many managers shortlists.

Benteke’s Belgian colleague Romelu Lukaku has called for compatriot Christian Benteke to quit Aston Villa at the end of the season.

Lukaku said:

I hope Christian will make a move to a big club so he can improve his game as well.

So would a player with Premiership experience be the answer upfront for Arsenal?



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | 2 Comments »

Football

Worrying stats highlight Arsenal’s poor form when Thomas Vermaelen starts

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
1 comment

vermealen graphic

So Arsenal fans – tell me what you think about Thomas Vermaelen? It seems pretty clear now that Arsenal’s captain is very much Wenger’s third choice centre back behind Mertesacker and Koscielny. And to make matters worse for Vermaelen both players have been talking recently about how they are committed to the club and see their future in London.

Conversely the Belgian defender hasn’t had the best of seasons and his performances have been dogged by poor positional play, wayward passing and misunderstandings with his partners. In spite of this he has apparently caught the eye of the scouts from Barcelona who, if sources are to be believed, have penciled him in as the next player to move from The Emirates to the Nou Camp.

Here then is a quick snapshot of what Arsenal have been like with and without Vermaelen this year courtesy of WhoScored.Com. In some ways it is a slightly skewed view as he has obviously played many more games than he has missed. Nevertheless there is the emergence of a trend that shows that Arsenal’s defences are meaner without the Belgian. And when he has not started Arsenal have not lost a game.

I do wonder if the Mertesacker and Koscielny pairing will be a standard fixture (unless one of them gets injured) until the end of the season. Vermaelen’s dip in form could mean that he becomes the next player to exit The Emirates.



Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Football | 1 Comment »

Football

Arsenal update: Stevan Jovetic’s stats look impressive, Fernando Amorebieta keen to join

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

If you have never checked Squawka out you really should. The website is an amazing source of stats on players and its blog houses some wonderfully insightful posts too.

The latest player to get the Squawka treatment is Arsenal’s supposed number one target Stevan Jovetic. The site has looked at his stats so far this season and then tried to weigh up where he would play for Arsenal, and is he the right man to lead them to a trophy or two next season.

Of course stats only ever tell apart of the story, but it clearly is a interesting read.

The slightly concerning part for me at at least was that it suggests that Jovetic would operate best as support striker behind the main man – presumably Giroud. Isn’t this where Arsenal get the best value from Cazorla though?

Maybe Wenger has plans to turn Jovetic into a more out and out striker. Anyhow with a return of 12 goals from 24 games he has had a pretty good season so far. The site also says that he has created 48 chances and has a passing accuracy rate of 78% which is a little lower than several Arsenal players.

Here’s the chart that shows where the shots have come from.

jovetic-shots

Also this afternoon the Express is reporting that Fernando Amorebieta of Athletic Bilbao is keen on a move to The Emirates, the tough tackling Venezuelan central defender has been sidelined a little at Bilbao this season and is keen to look for a new challenge.

According to The Express

The Venezuelan’s brother told Spanish paper Marca: “We have had contacts with Anzhi, who are very interested in his services, but given the desire to play in England, that move cannot take place.

“We are in contact with Arsenal.



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Yaya Toure tells City to sort his contract out – or he will be off

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

The Sun has a huge football exclusive this morning which concerns the fate of Man City’s massively talented midfielder Yaya Toure.

Apparently the player has been in contract talks with City for six months now and according to the paper if he doesn’t sign a new deal by the weekend the 29 year old will look for a move.

And depressingly for City fans Toure’s agent has said that the deal isn’t about money.

Dimitri Seluk said

“I do not feel he will stay at City. This is not about money. He wants to leave because of many reasons.

“He is one of the best players at Manchester City but does not feel the respect of the staff. Only Roberto Mancini respects Yaya.”

It could be that City simply have decided that they can’t afford to keep their star player. He is currently on £220,000 a week which makes him the club’s top earner and is one reason why City’s wages bill is astronomical.

The tricky part for City though would be finding a a club willing to pay his gargantuan wages, especially as Toure heads towards the end of this career.

The most obvious destinations would be PSG or a Russian club like Anzhi Makhachkala who are ambitious and could afford to pay him. Though Barca, Chelsea or even Man United might be tempted to stretch their wage bill further to land one of the most talented players on the planet.

To be honest though this feels like agent posturing. My money would be on the player singing a new contract at the club very soon as he angles for a better deal. What do you think?



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Arsenal update: Alexis Sanchez for Thomas Vermaelen swap? Striker Carr on radar

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

There’s more buzz about the Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal transfer this morning with several papers suggesting that the Barca winger/striker is one of Arsene Wenger’s top targets for the summer.

Wenger has been helped in his quest by the former sporting director at Udinese, Fabrizio Larini, the club where Sanchze made his name.

Larini thinks that his former protege should join The Gunners because their style of football complements the way that Sanchez plays.

“Sanchez needs to play the ball on the ground, just like Arsenal. That would be his ideal game. I do not know his current situation at the Spanish club. But his fitness problems have definitely limited his performances.The only thing that these teams will have to consider is that he is a player who needs freedom to play his way. In teams that have particularly rigid patterns of play he might have a few problems,” Larini said.

Several papers are also suggesting that one way of bagging Sanchez would be to include him as part of a swap deal for Arsenal centre back Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian has been out of sorts this season so a new start in Spain might appeal to him.

The Mail also reports that Arsenal are tracking the Dulwich Hamlets striker Daniel Carr. The player, who the paper claims is one of the hottest prospects in non-league football, was apparently on his way to Liverpool but Arsenal are keen to hijack the move.



Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Italian website says Arsenal will raid Barca for players. But might Man City cast offs be a better bet

By Stefano on March 19th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

It is a story that has been bubbling under for a few days now, but a number of sources are now saying that Arsene Wenger is looking at buying a job lot of Barcelona players in the summer.

The latest news source to confirm The Gunners’ growing interest in players from the Catalan club is Italian website Tutto Mercato.

It suggests that Wenger has his eye on winger Alexis Sanchez, defender Martin Montoya and former Gunners midfielder Alex Song.

Song, we know all about. His Barcelona sojourn has been a disaster and the player is keen to get back to the Premierhsip. Arsenal is the obvious port of call, but both Song and Wenger will have to resolve some of the issues that precipitated the player’s move to Spain last summer. I wonder if there are better, more defensively minded holding midfielders to be considered, but I don’t think too many Arsenal fans will be too disappointed to see Alex return.

As for Sanchez, great things were predicted for the Chilean when when he landed at Barca, but they just haven’t materialised. These days he is marginalised as a squad player which is waste of his undoubted talents. With Arshavin out the door in the summer he would be an obvious replacement.

The article also mentions Barca defender Martin Montoya, but it could also have namechecked keeper Valdes and that man Villa.

I guess that Barca still owe Arsenal a fair chunk of cash for the Song and Fabregas transfers and that offloading a few players would be quick and easy business for them. But then again I thought that might be the case with Villa in the winter window too.

As much as all five are great players and would undoubtedly grace any future Arsenal team I wonder if Arsene Wenger would be better off shopping closer to home. Man City are supposedly on the verge of a huge clear out and there are several players that would be ideal for Arsenal. Unlike the Spaniards they have lots of Premiership experience and unlike a lot of the current Arsenal team they are used to winning trophies.

So Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Edin Djeko and even old boys Kolo Toure and Sami Nasri are worth looking at, especially if Arsenal don’t make the Champions League cut this season.



Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Sky Sports to offer pay-as-you-go live Premiership football online

By Stefano on March 19th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

NOW TV iPad Sky SportsEver wanted to watch a live Premiership or Champions League game on Sky bit not got satellite or can’t make it to the pub. Well as from today, if you are a UK resident you will be able to watch Premiership football, Ashes cricket, F1 racing and more no matter where you are via your phone, tablet or PC as long as you have a an internet connection.

For though its SKY NOW offering you will be able to access 24 hours of live sports on the Sky channels for £9.99 a go.

The service will work on anything with a web connection including PCs, tablets, phones and games consoles like the Xbox 360.

It is kind of surprising that it has taken Sky so long to get round to doing this, but it will open up its live games to many more people across the UK.

So is £9.99 a fair price?

What do you think?



Tags: , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Arsenal update: Chelsea star is shock target, Jovetic update, how bad is Wilshere injury?

By Stefano on March 19th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

Arsenal’s search for a keeper in the summer continues and the latest name to be linked with a move to The Emirates is a real surprise.

IB Times says that top of the list is Chelsea’s 30 year old stopper, Peter Cech.

The theory runs like this. Chelsea want to replace Cech with a younger keeper and have just the man in Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid.

Cech may then leave in search of regular first team football and may fancy a move across the capital.

To be fair I am not sure that Chelsea would sell Arsenal on of their key players – the only player in recent time to have gone from being a blue to a red was Yossi Benayoun who the Gunners had on loan not long ago.

Also there are plenty of other names on Arsenal’s keeper wants list from Bergovic to Valdes. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Metro says that Arsenal are facing increasing competition in their bid to sign electric Montenegro striker Stevan Jovetic. Wenger is reputed to be willing to pay over £20 million to land the Fiorentina striker, however the player’s form has alerted both Man City and Juventus. Jovetic has scored 12 times in 27 appearances this season.

Interestingly England football fans will, get a chance to see how good the player is as he will start in the Montenegro team that takes on England in the World Cup qualification game next week.

Finally the old rumours about Jack Wilshere injury are back. ESPN are reporting that the club has hit back against those who believe that Wilshere might be out for the rest of the season.

“Nothing has changed in Jack’s recovery, there’s no setback or further damage to his ankle and no concern about any long-term problems.Jack was told to rest and we are still on course for him to resume training and be available for selection for the home game against Reading.”

Then again yesterday we looked at how Santi Cazorla is responding to playing in the middle again and whether playing the two of them together might be a problem.



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Arsenal update: is Cazorla more effective without Wilshere?

By Stefano on March 18th, 2013
2 comments

Ok, so it is just a theory, but it seems to be one that more and more Arsenal fans are discussing and that is the possibility that Arsenal aren’t always at their best with both Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere in the team.

And trying to accommodate them both might not be in the club’s best interests.

So here’s the theory. Cazorla is a wonderfully versatile player. This season Wenger has played him on the left wing, as a conventional central midfield player and in the hole behind the striker. He has also wandered on to the right wing from time to time.

In theory his versatility makes him a manager’s dream. However Cazorla seems to be at his most comfortable when playing in the middle of the park pushing forward, not stuck out on the wing. And that’s a position that suits Jack Wilshere’s game too.

The difference between the two is that Wilshere is excellent at making runs from deep positions carrying the ball with him past midfielders. With Cazorla, his bursts are shorter, but he is better than the Englishman at wiggling his way into goal scoring situations, and at the moment that is something that is sorely lacking in the Arsenal team.

Against Bayern Cazorla was pushed out left again to accommodate Rosicky and ended up having a quiet game. Against Swansea, with a more central position, he was able to make those trademark runs and get into stronger attacking positions.

What Cazorla is genius at is getting close to the box and then taking on defenders or threading balls through to other attackers. He did it many times in the game against Swansea and looked Arsenal’s best player by far.

Without Wilshere it gave Wenger the option of adding a more defensively minded midfielder to work with Arteta. On Saturday it was Diaby, who to be fair had a poor game. Ramsey has played in this position recently and looked very solid.

What potentially is an option for Arsenal going forward is to link Cazorla up to a more mobile striker – Jovetic being the current favourite, but it needs to be a striker with pace and great positional sense (which aren’t really Giroud’s strengths). The pair could be deadly for Arsenal next season.

I should add that Arsenal looked fairly strong until Wilshere’s return, although admittedly they had lost a couple of games just before he came back. Also on several occasions this season Wilshere has been the only Arsenal player worthy of wearing the shirt.

The big question remains though – where does Wilshere fit in? He is surely wasted as a defensive midfielder.

If Wenger can work out to get the best of them playing together Arsenal will boast an incredible midfield.

As for the short term I wonder how often we will see Wilshere again this season. So maybe Wenger needs to play Ramsey alongside Arteta (thereby also offering more protection for the defence) with Cazorla pushed right through the middle?

Who knows? Maybe that Champions League position is attainable after all.



Tags: , , ,
Posted in Football | 2 Comments »

Football

Is the David Villa to Arsenal story dead if Barca offer him a new contract?

By Stefano on March 18th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

The Daily Mail this morning is running with a story that Barcelona are about to offer Arsenal target David Villa a new contract. The 31 year old was hankering for a move in the transfer window as injuries had pushed him down the Catalan club’s pecking order.

However after some excellent recent performances the club have decided that they want the striker to stay at the Nou Camp and the Mail says that a contract extension – his contract expires in 14 months is on the cards.

So should Arsenal fans be concerned? I don’t think so.

Villa would have been a superb addition to the squad on loan during the winter window and I think his goals would have guaranteed a CL placing for the Gunners. However the team needs some new younger striking blood, and as he is likely to be priced out of Napoli’s Edinson Cavani Arsene Wenger has identified Fiorentina’s 23 year old Stevan Jevetic as a more suitable long term replacement for Robin Van Persie.

I think the door on the Villa transfer for Arsen Wenger shut over a month ago. Besides if Arsenal fail to quality for the Champions League I can’t imagine that Villa would sign anyhow.

Of course the story may have more twists and turns, especially if Vila is dropped again.

But I don’t think Wenger cares too greatly now anyhow.



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Arsenal update: Vorm in, Mertsesacker out…

By Stefano on March 18th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

Arsenal’s search for a keeper continues and the latest name to be thrown in the ring is the man who they put two past on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger is apparently now keen on Swansea’s Michel Vorm ,who at the very least would be a replacement for Lukasz Fabianski and may even supersede Wojciech Szczesny as the Gunners’ long term number one.

He wouldn’t be that cheap though. The player has three years left on his contract and several other clubs, including Barcelona, are apparently interested too.

Meanwhile German club Wolfsburg have targeted Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker for a summer move. The defender, whose performances have been inconsistent for The Gunners this season, would be reunited at the club with their sporting director Klaus Allofs who previously signed the player for Werder Bremen in 2006.

Allofs said

“Everyone knows what I think of Per. If he is for sale, he will always be of interest. He was the leader at Bremen and I also believe he is the leader in the Germany team. If he is for sale, he will always be of interest.”

There is a strong possibility of a serious shake up of Arsenal centre backs in the summer with Thomas Vermaelen allegedly a target for Barcelona.



Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Spurs striking dilemma; Why Ade Should Get Nod Over Defoe

By Stefano on March 15th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

Spurs’ striker situation this season has been peculiar. At the start of the campaign, Andre Villas-Boas opted for Jermain Defoe as his lone forward, despite the permanent signing of Emmanuel Adebayor, who was probably more suited to that role. Defoe performed well early on, combining goalscoring with impressive movement and improved link-up play.
Surprisingly, Villas-Boas switched to a 4-4-2 to accommodate both together, even after the initial setback of Adebayor’s dismissal at Arsenal when that formation was first tried. However, this was largely due to the struggles of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Clint Dempsey in Spurs’ attacking midfield role, and the arrival of Lewis Holtby means Villas-Boas is less inclined to play both strikers, despite opting for them together at the San Siro in midweek.

Now, we’re back to the situation at the start of the campaign. Villas-Boas has stated his admiration for Defoe, but in recent weeks he’s been far from impressive. In the confident home victory over Inter, he seemed to be going for personal glory rather than setting up his team-mates to put the tie to bed; and against Liverpool last weekend, his mistake contributed to Liverpool’s winning goal.

Therefore, Adebayor is probably a more likely choice this weekend against Fulham. Martin Jol’s centre-back pairing of Philippe Senderos and Brede Hangeland is impressive in terms of strength, but Adebayor’s pace might be more vital. Fulham have often depended upon Aaron Hughes to sweep up behind one of the centre-backs, but without him Fulham lack mobility in the centre of the side. Defoe is, arguably, the more logical option tactically, but his recent performances haven’t enhanced his reputation in Villas-Boas’ mind.

This post courtesy of Pick Our Team is by Michael Cox. PickOurTeam is a new type of football community giving fans an opportunity to have a meaningful say on the formation and selection of their team. PickOurTeam is the voice of the fans – collecting views on who should play where and ratings on how the players, manager, and referee perform each week. Every match the findings are compiled and presented back to the fans. The article was originally published here.

<



Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

Football

Why Fabianski should keep his place in the Arsenal team for the Swansea game

By Stefano on March 15th, 2013
0 comments yet. Be the First

Arsene Wenger sprung a surprise in midweek, leaving out first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for the trip to Bayern Munich, and selecting his fellow Pole Lukas Fabianski instead. Fabianski performed well Arsenal’s ultimately futile victory, making a couple of fine stops on his way to a clean sheet, and now Wenger faces a selection dilemma ahead of Saturday’s trip to Swansea.

Although Fabianski has played understudy to Szczesny in the past couple of campaigns, he was originally Arsenal’s number one, and it’s highly likely Wenger will select him at the Liberty Stadium. Fabianski retains many admirers at Arsenal, both for his goalkeeping ability and his professionalism since being demoted to back-up, and it would be a surprise to see him dropped after such a fine display.

His major weakness is his inability to command his penalty box, and therefore a trip to a side like Stoke wouldn’t be the ideal game him. But Swansea are the complete opposite, keeping the ball on the ground and threading passes through to Michu, so the job of Arsenal’s goalkeeper will be about shot-stopping, rather than claiming crosses.
That plays into Fabianski’s hands. He lacks the physical capabilities and sheer presence of Szczesny, but is probably better at making saves. Szczesny has conceded some poor goals in recent weeks, so Fabianski deserves his chance, and should start this weekend

This post courtesy of Pick Our Team is by Michael Cox. PickOurTeam is a new type of football community giving fans an opportunity to have a meaningful say on the formation and selection of their team. PickOurTeam is the voice of the fans – collecting views on who should play where and ratings on how the players, manager, and referee perform each week. Every match the findings are compiled and presented back to the fans. The article was originally published here.

<



Tags: , , ,
Posted in Football | No Comments »

-->