All posts by h79snht.top

After last weekend’s goal-fest the Premier League faces the freezing temperatures once more.

Chelsea will be desperate to end the slump which has see them knocked off of their perch on top of the Premier League, and a game against struggling Everton could provide the perfect platform. Arsenal, who still remain in the mix, welcome Fulham.

The bottom two, Wolves and West Ham, both experienced wins last weekend, but both face tricky away ties this time around at Blackburn and Sunderland respectively.

Gerard Houllier returns to Anfield on Monday night with his struggling Aston Villa side to play a Liverpool side whose performances have improved dramatically of late. Manchester City will be hoping they can close the gap on third place, but they will face a tough game against this season’s surprise package Bolton who are unbeaten in five.

Congratulations if your fantasy team profited from the flurry of goals last week, but if it didn’t it’s even more important that you get it right this time around.

Click on image below to see my fantasy picks for this round of 11Kicks Fantasy Football (4-4-2 formation)

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Holy Crap – its live fantasy football!

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After Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill added his verdict on the clubs ambition, the saga surrounding the Red Devils has now officially gone full circle off the back of Wayne Rooney’s recent ‘stay or go’ debacle.

Seemingly not rocked by the news that United’s noisy neighbours, Man City, have overtaken them in the wages bill, Gill announced that when the time is right, Sir Alex Ferguson will still have the spending power once associated with the red half of Manchester.

To any United fan, though, this isn’t by any means a revelation. Ferguson has continuously insisted that when an opportunity arises which represents value for money he will look to spend. Sensibly, of course.

The worry for the Old Trafford faithful will be when this scenario presents itself. In a climate where among others, Man City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, can throw money at any player he wants, will there ever be a player who can provide ‘value for money’ in the modern game?

During Roman Abramovich’s lavish spending stage when he first took over Chelsea, the estimation of a player doubled when Chelsea’s name was mentioned. United themselves bid a reported £10 million for Michael Essien, only for him to head towards London in a deal worth £20 million.

If this trend is to continue, Manchester United’s next big signing could be a long way off. Ferguson has become stubborn in the transfer market since the Premier League became a rich mans play-thing, and he isn’t likely to change that approach. His biggest signing since Dimitar Berbatov’s arrival in 2008 has been the £7 million capture of Hernandez and Bebe, with the latter yet to feature prominently in the first team.

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So does that go someway to proving Rooney’s point? Do United lack the clout in the transfer market to beat their rivals to the signing of the world’s next big star? Not according to Gill, that clout is still very much there, it’s just waiting to be used, properly.

The biggest argument Ferguson and Gill can mount is the silverware they have won since the Russian revolution at Chelsea. United beat them in the Champions League final lets not forget, and were only two points short of a record fourth consecutive Premier League title last season.

So is the chief executive doing his up most to hide the cracks in United’s crumbling empire or should fans stay loyal? Rooney staying is no doubt a massive boost and will be a huge relief to the supporters, but the likes of Paul Scholes and Van Der Sar will need replacing with some proven quality, not a Carlos Queiroz recommendation.

If United are to continue to be the number one club in Manchester then in the current game money talks and sooner rather than later Gill and co will have come good on their statements. What’s the common phrase? Put your money where mouth is. That time has come for United.

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Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has refused to comment on Fernando Torres’ red card against Swansea on Saturday, and instead preferred to discuss the manner of his side’s victory.

The Stamford Bridge outfit ran out comfortable 4-1 winners, with the Spaniard scoring the opener before being dismissed.

When asked about the Spain international’s first half lunge on Mark Gower that saw him sent from the pitch, the Portuguese coach refused to be drawn on an opinion.

“Well, this is for the referee to decide, according to the rules and he decided like that, so nothing to say,” he told Sky Sports.

Villas Boas was sighted speaking to the fourth official after the incident, but explains that he just wanted some clarity on the decision.

“I was just beginning to try to understand the situation but I think the referee’s decision was the most important at this time,” he stated.

A Ramires strike and a brace from Didier Drogba sealed the win, and the man in charge is happy with the three points.

“Yes, it was a good win for us and an important win after what happened at Old Trafford.

“Eventually we got the goal which was important but things became even more difficult for us with ten men but we didn’t stop trying to take our opportunities and we came up with a fantastic result so it’s really good to come back and show our resilience not only from a defeat but also what happened on Wednesday,” he concluded.

With Manchester United dropping points at Stoke, Chelsea are now just three points off the pace.

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Harry Redknapp confirmed Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart as likely starters for Tottenham’s Champions League clash with AC Milan.Bale returned from a back injury in his side’s 3-3 draw with Wolverhampton in the English Premier League on Sunday, putting in some typical barnstorming runs that will give the Welshman plenty of confident ahead of Tottenham’s last-16, second-leg match against the Serie A giants on Wednesday at White Hart Lane.Spurs took the first leg 1-0 at the San Siro on February 15, with a strike from Peter Crouch handing Tottenham a crucial lead going into the second leg.Redknapp said Bale pulled up well from the 20-minute substitute stint, and added that van der Vaart is also a chance to return from a calf injury.”Yes, there’s every chance (of Bale starting). He came on and made a big difference. He seems okay. We’ll keep our fingers crossed,” Redknapp said.”When he came on and started with the ball it was exciting and we’ve missed that in the last five or six weeks.”Van der Vaart missed Spurs’ league matches with Blackpool and Wolves but Redknapp said he had his fingers crossed the playmaking Dutchman would be ready to go.”Yes, I’m hoping he will be fit. We’ll be positive. We’ll play an attacking team. If Lennon’s okay we’ll play with Lennon and probably Bale and Crouchy’s had a fantastic European campaign as well,” he said.

Wigan’s mini-revival was brought a stuttering halt as Arsenal scored four without reply to run out convincing winners at the DW Stadium and move to within two points of the Premier League top four.

Following last week’s dramatic late win at Sunderland the Latics went in search of back-to-back victories for the first time season but were brought thumping back down to earth by the clinical Gunners. A promising start from Roberto Martinez’s side gave way to an Arsenal side who are still undergoing an renaissance of their own and they displayed their class with Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen scoring within a minute of each other to send the visitors into the break with a two goal advantage. Gervinho extended that lead in the second half before Robin Van Persie continued his prolific form in 2011 with his 37th goal in all competitions during the calendar year. The win saw Arsene Wenger’s men climb to fifth in the table behind Chelsea who beat Newcastle earlier in the day.

The home side will be disappointed that they were beaten in such a manner on their home turf as they slipped back into familiar territory with this defeat sending them back to the bottom. Still brimming with confidence following their first win in 10 games Wigan looked bright in the opening stages with Victor Moses and Connor Sammon causing the away side a few problems. Still they look impoverished in attack and were made to pay for some substandard finishing as the Gunners raced into a two goal lead before the hosts even had time to blink. Firstly, Arteta opened the scoring on 28 minutes lashing a long range a shot towards goal that passed through the hands of goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi. The Oman stopper really should have done better and he found himself picking the ball out of the net just a minute later after Vermaelen powered in a header via the post to give his side a nice cushion going into the second half.

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Wigan briefly threatened a comeback after the break with Moses flashing a shot across goal before Mohamed Diame went close with an effort. Arsenal started to dominate again and felt they should have had a penalty after Aaron Ramsey was fouled by Steve Gohouri in the penalty area. They didn’t have to wait long to increase their lead with Gervinho making it 3-0 just after the hour stabbing home from close range after Al Habsi had spilled Van Persie’s effort. There was still time for the Dutchman to grab a goal waiting till the 78th minute before scoring his 13th of the season sweeping the ball home after being set up by Theo Walcott to make it six wins in seven games since their defeat against Tottenham in October.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has dismissed England’s chances of winning Euro 2012, stating that the core of the team is not as strong as other nations.

The 2-2 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica on Friday night assured that Fabio Capello’s men will take their place in Poland and Ukraine next year.

Despite an unbeaten qualifying campaign, the 85-times capped full-back is not convinced by The Three Lions’ chances.

“It’s as though we think one world class player might be able to propel us to a major trophy,” he stated in the Mail on Sunday.

“And now we are talking about Rooney possibly missing two games at Euro 2012 when what we should be talking about is the spine of a team that has no mobility and can’t keep the ball.

“When I look at it coldly, a team that has John Terry, Gary Cahill, Scott Parker, Gareth Barry, Darren Bent and Rooney in its central positions is nowhere near good enough to take on the major nations such as Spain.

“I’m not having a go at individuals; there are some very good players among those names. Collectively, Rooney aside, there is hardly any pace, very little invention and hardly any rotation of positions.

“The real issue is that the spine of the team is not good enough, as it stands, to take on Spain, Italy, France or Germany at Euro 2012,” he stated.

Neville picked the world champions out as a particular team of strength, that England may not be able to compete against, but will come head-to-head with on November 12th in an international friendly.

“Compare England with the spine of Spain: Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, David Villa and Fernando Llorente. That’s the issue Fabio Capello now has to resolve and why the Wembley friendly is so much more than a practice.

“Never has a friendly been more important.

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“It’s like a Cup final. Somehow, Capello has to do something that no England manager has done in 15 years, and that is make the England players believe that this next match could be the most important of their life,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Theo Walcott is gunning for a berth in the Arsenal forward line next season after five years on the wing at the north London club.Walcott, 22, joined English Premier League side Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006.

He has made 114 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal, the majority of them coming in a wide role.

Now set to embark on his fifth full season in the Arsenal first team, the England international has his sights set on a centre-forward spot.

“I was signed as a striker – I want to play up front. I think I have done my trade out on the wing,” Walcott said.

“I think a lot of people forget I’m not a winger. I see myself as a striker, but if I get played up front it will take me a few games to get used to playing there again because I haven’t played there for about five years.”

“I think I have done a fairly good job on the wing for Arsenal. For this team I will play anywhere, but hopefully the fans will start seeing me up front a bit more.”

Walcott could be set to follow the path of former team-mate Thierry Henry, who made the transition from an unproductive wide role at Juventus to starring as a striker for Arsenal.

“I’ve been practicing my finishing after training,” Walcott said.

“This season, 15-20 is my target.”

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“I know I’m not going to play every single game. I always work at a high intensity so I’m not going to be able to do every single game.”

“The boss will know that as well. Hopefully I will be given a bit more of a free role as well. I’m intrigued to see what happens.”

Arsenal finished fourth in the English Premier League last season, losing in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham City and bowing out of the Champions League and FA Cup to Barcelona and Manchester United respectively.

Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov claims he does not need to practise penalties as Australia will not make it that far on Tuesday.

Uzbekistan face the Socceroos in the Asian Cup semi-finals on Tuesday evening, with the winner set to face either Japan or South Korea in the final of Asia’s premier football tournament.

Australia came within two minutes of a penalty shootout in Saturday’s quarter-final against Iraq before Harry Kewell nodded the Socceroos into the last four in the 118th minute.

But Nesterov has shrugged off suggestions he should be practising stopping penalties ahead of the game, insisting Uzbekistan will finish off their opponents well before then.

“No. We are not practising any penalties. I am confident that we can wrap it up within the allotted time,” the shot-stopper told the Asian Football Confederation’s official website.

“They are also humans like us. We are not afraid of anyone.”

The 27-year-old, who has conceded four goals in four games in the tournament so far, pinpointed accuracy at set-pieces as the key to Uzbekistan reaching the Asian Cup final, and added that he believes the Central Asian nation have the quality to take the title over Japan or South Korea.

“There is no doubt about it. We have to be very accurate (when it comes to set-pieces),” he said.

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“And we have to keep ball possession. If we play our normal passing game it should be okay. We should not make silly mistakes.”

“There is a belief that we can win the title. The mood is very good and everybody is looking forward to the match.”

QPR have completed the signing of forward DJ Campbell from Blackpool on a two-year deal.Campbell, who joined for a fee believed to be worth about 1.25 million pouds, will once again ply his trade in the English Premier League, having scored 13 goals last campaign for the relegated Blackpool.

The 29-year-old joins a club he supported as a boy and he was delighted to be at Loftus Road, having knocked back interest from other clubs in the top flight.

“It’s a massive club and it means a lot to me to be back here where it all began,” Campbell told the club’s official website.

“There were other clubs in the Premier League that showed an interest but when I heard QPR were in for me it was an offer I couldn’t refuse – this is my club.”

Manager Neil Warnock said he was excited by what Campbell could bring to the club, including pace up front.

“He is someone I have admired for a while now and he had a fabulous season in the Premier League with Blackpool last year,” Warnock said.

“He is a QPR fan and you can tell he has a great desire to do well for the club he supports. That shone through when I met up with him – he can’t wait to play for us.”

“He also gives us that extra element of pace which we need and I am sure he will prove to be a big hit with the fans at Loftus Road this season.”

Wigan Athletic winger Charles N’Zogbia is determined to leave the DW Stadium in January.

The French star, who has been in superb form this season, was on the verge of moving to Birmingham City in a £9million deal in the summer, only for the transfer to fall apart at the last minute over personal terms.

Liverpool, Juventus and Marseille have all been linked with N’Zogbia, who was quoted in the Daily Star as saying:“Wigan’s just a stepping stone.

“They know very well I’m not a player who is going to stay at the club.

“I give 100 per cent on the pitch, but, if there’s a bigger club that wants me, the manager and the president have always told me the door is open for discussion.

“An offer from Marseille is not something you refuse.”

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