The start of the 2010/11 Premier League is drawing ever closer and teams like Manchester United are well into their pre-season campaign. Like many Premiership teams, United headed to America for a pre-season tour where they took on Philadelphia Union, Kansas City Wizards and the MLS All-Stars. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would have been keeping a close eye on his troops ahead of the new season as he plots to regain the Premier League title the Red Devils lost to Chelsea last time out. Pre-season is not just all about hard work though and there is time for the players to relax and explore different surroundings. Edwin van der Sar and Nani did just that and here they are on the famous ‘Rocky’ steps in Philadelphia. Can you provide a funny caption for the image?
Leave your suggestions below…
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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has spoken of his disappointment, after a late West Brom goal condemned his side to a 3-2 defeat on Wednesday night.
Demba Ba continued his excellent goalscoring form, twice bringing The Magpies level after goals from Peter Odemwingie and Gareth McAuley, but a Paul Scharner effort with five minutes left stole victory for the visitors.
Pardew was unhappy with the defeat, especially given that Newcastle played well in the second half and were at home.
“It’s an upsetting game for us to lose because we are at home,” he told Sky Sports.
“The first half I didn’t think we played anywhere near to our ability.
“Second half we did. We came back from a goal down. We was bossing proceedings, looking like we were going to get back into it, and when we got the second goal it set us up for a grand stand finish.
“But then to get done on the counter attack because of us looking for the win, maybe we were a little bit too desperate tonight.
“We would have had 30 points if we won tonight and maybe we wanted it too much, and didn’t play as controlled as we usually do.
“We were creating chance after chance before we scored and then when we did we thought there we go, we can win it, but the front two for West Brom were a threat all night.
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“They got down the side and had a bit of fortune for the goal I thought,” he concluded.
A late Erik Huseklepp strike salvaged a 1-1 draw for Norway in Saturday?s Euro 2012 qualifier with Denmark, while Cyprus and Iceland drew.Veteran winger Dennis Rommedahl fired Denmark into the lead with a well-struck volley in the 27th minute, but Huseklepp guided a left-footed shot home nine minutes from time to grant the hosts a point that stretches their lead atop Group H to three points.
The home side failed to carve out clear-cut chances throughout the encounter and opted for a direct route to goal, with towering Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland a constant menace for the Danish defence from set pieces.
Olympiaklos winger Rommedahl netted the opener somewhat against the run of play, firing home a fierce volley into the top-right corner after Norway?s defence failed to clear a corner.
The Danes settled well after taking the lead and motored occasional bursts forward through Ajax man Christian Eriksen, a constant menace for the Norwegian defence on the wing.
After seeing his side struggle to trouble the goal of Thomas Sorensen for most of the second half, Norway coach Egil Olsen replaced defender Espen Ruud with forward Daniel Braaten, a ploy that paid off when Braaten fed Bari front-man Huseklepp to level proceedings.
The draw means Norway lead the group standings on 10 points, three ahead of Portugal and Denmark on seven.
Cyprus and Iceland round out the standings but remain winless after sharing the spoils from a lacklustre 0-0 draw in Nicosia.
Chryssis Michail squandered a 21st-minute penalty for the hosts, with Iceland gloveman Stefan Magnusson parrying his effort to safety.
The hosts were also denied a late winner when Constantinos Makridis? long-range effort struck the post, while Iceland, who spent most of the match defending, saw Birkir Saevarsson waste their only opportunity of note before half-time.
New boss Avram Grant insists West Ham's struggle to avoid relegation last season will have no bearing on how they perform when the new campaign gets underway.
The former Chelsea and Portsmouth manager was confirmed in the Upton Park hot-seat last month after the Hammers parted company with predecessor Gianfranco Zola on the back of a turbulent season.
Following talk of financial turmoil and the likely departure of key players, they laboured to a 17th-placed finish in the final table after being embroiled in a relegation dogfight during the closing weeks of the campaign.
However, despite the severe problems of last season, Grant believes there is every reason for optimism ahead of the new campaign.
"What happened in the past happened in the past. I'm looking for a new beginning, " he said.
"Our target is not only for next season but for the next seasons. We want to progress. We want our academy to progress.
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"We want the team to progress. We want to build a platform that will progress each year and I'm sure we will do it.
"We want to progress with good players. The players from the academy are doing a good job, but we need good experienced players with talent too."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
With a third of the Premier League season now gone by, the table is starting to find its level and supporters are starting to get a better understanding of where their respective clubs are at this season and the challenge that faces them in the coming months. Once again the Premier League has been broken up into three tiers, with each team facing their own private battle.
Unlike previous years there has certainly been some stability on the managerial front with only Steve Bruce succumbing to the bullet so far, as clubs look to show patience with their managers to turn around their current plights. The managers may not be so patient with players at their disposal and may look to make significant changes in the January transfer window.
The January transfer window is loved and loathed in equal measures, with many managers and supporters alike welcoming the opportunity to freshen things up, while others see it as a source of distraction. History shows it is a renowned place for panic buying, as last January certainly proved, but there have been notable successes in the past that shows it can be a significant period to turn around a club’s fortunes. I feel the African Cup of Nations and the unprecedented amount of long term injuries we have seen will force many club’s hands and subsequently we can expect to see another expensive month for many Premier League chairman.
So how do you feel about Arsenal’s fortunes so far this season and would you look to see changes made in January? Who would you like to see brought in and ultimately who would you like to see moved on in the up and coming window?
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Petr Cech is clinging to hope that Chelsea can erase their deficit on leaders Manchester United and win the English Premier League title.The Blues trail their rivals by 12 points with two games in hand, even after beating Sir Alex Ferguson’s men 2-1 on Tuesday.The Chelsea shot-stopper said it was not impossible for the champions to hold onto their title, but admitted results needed to go their way – starting with a trip to Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road on Monday.”You can see teams dropping points so we will definitely have a go and try to retain the title. Realistically, we know it is not in our hands,” Cech said.Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said their triumph over the league leaders would propel one final push from the Londoners to try and knock United from top spot.”When you win against United, it means you’re good enough to play against stronger teams. So this result obviously improves your confidence,” the Italian boss said.”It’s the wrong way to prepare by thinking it will be easier against Blackpool than United.””We have to be more in focus against them than against United. It’s easy to stay focused against United because there’s so much attention on the game, and a lot of pressure.”
As England prepare to face Algeria tomorrow in the second World Cup group game, Fabio Capello’s men will be looking to finally make a proper start to their World Cup campaign. However in order to do so Capello is going to have to make some changes, here are three that he needs to make:
3. Play Joe Cole
The midfielder’s inclusion was a surprise to some due to his limited playing time for Chelsea last season. However now that he is in the squad he needs to be used for a game like this after England’s disappointing start. James Milner who started the game against the USA was disappointed and seemed to be overawed by the occasion of playing in a World Cup. Shaun Wright-Phillips came on in his place and although he got into some good positions, had a disappointing impact on the game.
Therefore Joe Cole needs to be given the chance to shine and whilst he may not of had too much an impact for Chelsea last season he is a quality player. He also has the experience of playing in a World Cup and won’t falter because of the occasion, against the USA England were lacking a spark and Cole could be the man to provide it. It’s only fair that Cole gets his chance against Algeria as England’s other options for the left hand side have been tried out and haven’t done the business.
2. Play Michael Dawson
The Tottenham defender is only at the tournament because of Rio Ferdinand’s injury, so he has had a slice of luck on his part. However now that Ledley King looks likely to be out of the World Cup as well, Capello needs to decide on a new partner for John Terry at the heart of England’s defence. Michael Dawson despite his fortuitous inclusion is the best centreback in the squad after Terry. Jamie Carragher hasn’t had a great season for Liverpool and looks to be past his best and the same can be said about Matthew Upson. Dawson in contrast has had a fantastic season for Tottenham and was even awarded their player of the year, without a doubt Dawson is who Capello should go with to partner Terry.
1. Switch to 4-5-1
Although it may not be the most exciting formation around, 4-5-1 is the formation that suits England best and allows them to play to their strengths. England are blessed with a whole host of talented midfielders and this formation would allow England to accommodate them all. Gareth Barry can be the lynch pin in midfield and England will still have the drive of Steven Gerrard, and Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon would offer some good width. As for Frank Lampard, he has plenty of critics but you cannot argue that he has had a great season for Chelsea and is a class player.
Sadly England do not have enough quality strikers, Wayne Rooney is England’s only world class striker and the rest are decent by not up to his standards by any means. Rooney has played upfront on his own several times for Manchester United this season and has thrived on being the main man for his club so why can’t he do it for his country? Emile Heskey got his chance against America and despite setting up the goal didn’t do anything else, Peter Crouch is similar to Heskey and Jermain Defoe despite having scored 18 league goals for Spurs, the majority were several goals in one game against inferior opposition so he hasn’t shown any real quality.
Rarely do sides play a flat out 4-4-2 anymore and if England play 4-5-1 they can switch to a 4-3-3 when in possession and it could be deadly against their opponents. Rooney will be able to thrive off service from Cole and Lennon and then it will leave Lampard, Gerrard and Barry to run the midfield as a three and it could be a masterstroke from Capello if he chooses to employ it.
What changes do you think Capello needs to make?
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Click image below to see a gallery of all the Dutch babes:
Before the half time whistle had blown at the Ethiad stadium against Villarreal, with City losing 1-0 and looking like crashing out of their group, Mancini made the decision to substitute Adam Johnson for Barry. It was not the tactics behind the substitution that got me thinking, but the player who was taken off. Adam Johnson is undeniably a good young talented English player, yet has become little more than a bit part player recently for Manchester City. After his move from Middlesbrough, a sparkling future was predicted for the player, yet playing the full 90 minutes is now a novelty for the player.
Johnson is not the only player in the Premier League that is suffering from a similar fate, with many players struggling to get game time, either because of the vast talent at their club or just falling out of favour with their manager. Not only this, there are also players who may have out grown their current club and need to move on in order to enhance their careers and have the opportunities to play in Europe and challenge for the major trophies. So just who are these players at a crossroads at their current clubs and what are their options for the future?
Obviously most of you flicking through this will be wondering where Carlos Tevez’ name is, but the answer is that his future is not at a crossroads, it’s at a dead end.
Click on Kalou to unveil the top 10
[divider]
List compiled by Rebecca Knight
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Arsene Wenger is looking to end Arsenal’s trophy drought at Wembley in a competition that he has previously shown an element of disdain to in the past. The bookies feel it is a foregone conclusion on Sunday, with very few neutrals expecting Birmingham City to cause a shock.
In the papers this morning there has been a mixed bag of stories that includes the Glazers rule out sale; Mancini bemoans the fixture schedule in England, while West Ham are rocked by Faubert’s desire to quit Upton Park.
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Glazers rule out United sale – Sky Sports
Mancini: Players treated like machines – Guardian
Gareth is simply unbelieva-Bale – Sun
Wenger firm on Toral deal – Sky Sports
Sparky: City can’t look me in eye – Sun
West Ham ‘less than 50-50’ to stay up – Guardian
Spurs chief Redknapp in the market for out-of-favour Barca striker Bojan – Daily Mail
Faubert hits Hammers with exit demand – Mirror
Ferguson rules City out of title race – Guardian
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Houllier: no chance of a ‘full English’ – Daily Telegraph
Wales international goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey has signed a new five-year contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 23-year-old still had two years of his current deal to run, but has now extended his stay at Molineux until the summer of 2015.
Manager Mick McCarthy told the club's official website:"I'm delighted that Wayne has signed his new contract.
"We're blessed to have three very good goalkeepers at the club who are currently fit and battling for the position. Wayne is somebody who I believe is a top-class young keeper who will also get better.
"This is really good news for the club to have secured one of its best young players and one who will be keen to play a big part in the future."
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Hennessey has made just over 100 appearances to date for Wolves, while during the 2006-07 season he was loaned out to Stockport County where he kept a club record nine consecutive clean sheets.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email