Champions League News 29th September 2009

UEFA Champions League matches 29/09/2009






Arsenal v Olympiakos, Group H, 19:45 kick off
Fiorentina v Liverpool, Group E 19:45 kick off

In tonight's Champions League action Tuesday 29th September 2009 there 2 games featuring Premier League sides, both with tough qualifying group matches.

In Group H Arsene Wenger's Arsenal take on Olympiakos without Brazilian midfielder Denilson. Denilson made his last appearance for the Gunners on 12th September and since then has been sidelined for 2 months with a small fracture in his back. The injury was sustained in their 4-3 defeat Eastlands and is no doubt a big loss to Arsene Wenger at this point in the season. A day after their one-nil win against Fulham, Nicklas Bendtner was involved in a minor car accident where he sustained some bruising also keeping him out of this match. Almunia is also out with a chest infection. One boost to the Gunners is getting England star Theo Walcott back after a recovering from a side strain injury.

Liverpool face Fiorentina away in Group E. The Reds are hoping to maintain their 100% in the Champions League Group E and have Spanish striker Fernando Torres in red hot form for this fixture. Liverpool are pretty much at full strength but Benitez will be without anchor man Mascherano (hamstring). Mascherano picked up the injury in training but will be hopeful to get fit for this Sunday's big clash against Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. Also Benayoun picked up a dead leg against Hull. Fiorentina have no Alberto Gilardino upfront but have ex-Chelsea striker Mutu to lead the line. I wonder if the Saudi prince who has offered £350m for 50% of the Merseysde club will be tuning in...

I reckon Arsenal and Liverpool double, worth a cheeky mid-week flutter.

Manchester City 3 West Ham 1 Premier League result

Man City 3 West Ham United 1 Football Latest

Mark Hughes's Manchester City continued to give the Eastlands faithful something to cheer about with

Carlos Tevez opened the scoring after only 5 minutes, taking a Petrov pass and converting from six yards out with ease past England 'keeper Robert Green. Carlton Cole, who will be gunning for a World Cup spot probably behind Emile Heskey scored with a smart finish to equalise. Wright-Philips, also looking to impress constantly battered the left side of the West Ham defence but it was left footer Petrov that put City back in the lead with a well crafted curling free kick from just on the edge of the 'D'.

In the second half Man City continued to impress, with Bellamy, Wright-Philips and Tevez all looking sharp and hungry for success at the highest level. In the 60th minute Bellamy curled a great free kick into the danger zone for Tevez to head home his second goal to make it 3-1. City's tenacity pinned West Ham back continously in the second half. For the Hammers, Demanti was impressive when the visitors did get possession and pushed Given to make a good shot stop over his bar mid-way through the second half. However the home team remained strong balancing attacking football with maintaining possession. Gareth Barry nearly scored 12 minutes before the end with a fiercely struck left foot volley that Robert Green tipped over the bar neatly.

Cole and Demanti looked like Zola's best opportunity for a goal but must have been desperate for some joy as the Hammers are at the wrong end of the Prem at the moment.

Martin Petrov had a great chance to make it 4 with a right foot strike but sent it over showing how left sided he is. Santa Cruz came on with a couple of minutes to go to show Man City's strength in depth but the game was well wrapped up by then and Hughes will be looking forward now to pushing on from 5th position in the Premier League with one game in hand on Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Premier League Fixtures September 19th/20th 2009

Latest Premiership Football Fixtures

Without a doubt the biggest match of the weekend is the Manchester derby this Sunday at 1.30pm. After the Adebayor scandal in their 4-2 visctory against Arsenal, Mark Hughes is a doing a great job of mixing it with the big boys and picking up maximum points but will be hoping his players use their heads in what is normally a supercharged Premier League derby atmosphere. Great London derby on Sunday too, Spurs will look to bounce back after their loss against the Red Devils when taking on Chelsea.

Arsenal v Wigan (Emirates 3pm)
Aston Villa v Portsmouth (Villa Park 3pm)
Bolton v Stoke, (Reebok stadium 3pm)
Burnley v Sunderland (Turf Moor 3pm
Hull v Birmingham, (KC stadium 3pm)
West Ham v Liverpool (Upton Park 5.30pm)

Sunday, 20 September 2009
Chelsea v Tottenham (Stamford Bridge 4pm)
Everton v Blackburn (Goodison Park 3pm)
Man Utd v Man City (Old Trafford 1.30pm)
Wolverhampton v Fulham (Molineaux 2pm)

Does Adebayor deserve to be charged by the FA?

Man City's £25m signing, Emmanuel Adebayor, played some amazing football in last Saturday's clash with his former club. However his skills on the ball were overshadowed by a totally inappropriate goal celebration and an alleged deliberate stamp on the head of his former team mate, Robin Van Persie. The FA have as a result charged Adebayor with improper and violent conduct.

Adebayor has until 6pm tomorrow to formally respond, but in post match interviews he has apologised for his goal celebration, claiming pure adrenalin led him to run the length of the pitch and celebrate in front of the away supporters, and has denied any intent to injure Van Persie. Is his apology enough? Even if you disbelieve his claim that his sprint to the Arsenal fans was not intentional, it is impossible to deny that he spent much of last season being derired by the Gooner supporters and his claims that these fans abused him and his family throughout Saturday's match are almost certainly true. However in my view, when you are paid tens of thousands of pounds a week, part of your job is not only to score goals, but also to be mindful of how your behaviour can influence supporters. Anyone who knows anything about football could predict that to celebrate in that way in front of the Arsenal fans would drive a number of idiots to start throwing missiles on the pitch, which is what happened and resulted in a steward being knocked unconscious and hospitalised. This mindless violence was not Adebayor's fault directly, but he and other footballers need to be made absolutely aware that they play a part in minimising the occasions which provoke the thugs who claim to be fans. Plus Adebayor owes some respect for the club which allowed him to make his name in the premiership.

Adebayor's alleged stamp on Van Persie certainly looks nasty from certain angles. Van Persie himself has issued a statement on Arsenal's website berating Adebayor for what he claims was a deliberate act of violence. The FA will no doubt be studying all angles before they make their judgement. I hope that this was an accident because Adebayor is undoubtedly a very talented player and it would be a shame if this sort of behaviour defines his career. Footballers are paid too much to be as stupid as some of the fans.

England v Croatia team latest 8 September 2009

Fabio Capello is holding his cards closely to his chest in terms of Wayne Rooney's striking partner going into the exciting World Cup qualifier tonight between England and Croatia. Emile Heskey has the physical, team player strengths and Defoe is simply on fire - who will he go for? I think he'll be prudent and go with Heskey to start with the option of playing Defoe for either the last 30 mins or even all of the second half if necessary.

The other tricky one is the right hand side of midfield. Using Beckham tactically as a dead ball super sub works, Theo Walcott is out with a back injury so will he go for Wright-Philips or Lennon to start?

Does it feel like 2 years ago that England lost to Croatia with Steve McClaren hanging his head in shame underneath his umbrella? For me it doesn't, I vividly remember the feeling of disbelief as we failed to qualify for the European Championships 2008 losing 2-3 to the Croats. Scott Carson did have a shocker but there were other more experienced players playing at new Wembley for England that night.

Now under Capello, England at qualifying level are a sturdier propoposition. To some degree, England laid the ghost to rest when beating Croatia 1-4 in Zagreb and are 4 points of the opposition going into this home fixture. We question whether they would be World Cup winning material but are assuming that we will be in South Africa because we are in pole position with the opportunity to book our place tonight at Wembley.

Croatia themselves are not in the best of positions and need the points making this a great little midweek international clash. If they lose and the Ukraine win they could be border line for World Cup qualification which would be a bit of a shock when looking at the group. Also without key Spurs players, Corluka and Modric England will really be looking to ruffle the Croatians. Their star player is definitely Eduardo and you could picture him popping up and bagging a goal just when least expected.

Potential England line up for this World Cup qualifier:

GK Green,
RBJohnson
CB Terry
CB Upson
LB Cole
RM Lennon
CM Lampard
CM Gerrard
LM Barry
CF Rooney
CFHeskey

Chelsea banned from buying new players until 2011

Yesterday Fifa announced that Chelsea will be unable to operate in the transfer market for the next two windows as a result of a complaint from French side Lens regarding the signing of Gael Kakuta two years ago. This effectively means Chelsea will not be able to sign any new talent until January 2011.

Chelsea have also been hit with a £130,000 fine but this is nothing compared to the potential financial implications of their punishment. If the blues can't match their big spending premiership rivals in the transfer market they may be unable to match them on the pitch and could ultimately lose their champion's league or even premiership place. The fortunes of Leeds United, who have plummeted into league one obscurity since (for very different reasons) losing their championship league place, tell a cautionary tale to all.

Having to rock up to the grounds of the likes of Exeter and Swindon on a weekly basis is however some way off for Chelsea fans. Chelsea is planning to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).and given the harshness of the sanctions, I believe will be successful in at least reducing the ban. The same punishment was handed out to Roma and was reduced on appeal to one transfer window. Given the strength of Chelsea's squad, they should do well this season even without the ability to do shopping in the January sales.

Blues will however still be worried of injuries and illness. For the rest of us, coming days after Eduardo's ban for diving and Platini's statements on clubs in debt, should we be worried that these international football bodies are flexing their muscles a little too much?

Premier League clubs face 3 year Platini Champions League squeeze

Michel Platini is proposing to phase out any club in debt from the Champions League within the next 3 years.

Platini's latest brain wave follows an idea to cap European club spending which was heavily criticised at the time.

Platini sounds serious - he has met with Russian business tycoon Roman Abramovich with the objective of getting Chelsea onside with the concept of getting all clubs under some type of debt control. Man City are on course to turn in the biggest financial loss than any other club, Real Madrid will be plummeting into the red to the tune of £800m...this is football's own credit crunch waiting to happen and my view is that Platini is correct to dig his heels in now. However, the reality is that the Champions League is a football extravaganza for the heavy weights ... if in 3 years time Man Utd or Real Madrid are in debt then their expulsion is this reallistic? It would surely de-value UEFA's prestiguous competition.

In Germany, there is real practical financial management each and every season within the Bundesliga. All teams apply for a licence to appear in the German league each season and this is based on the solvency of the football club in question. Perhaps these measures at domestic level prior to any drastic changes at European competition level.

The perfect club from an ownership perspective is Barcelona. The fans are a huge stakeholder group in any club of substance and at Barca they own the club. Therefore there are no 'sugar daddies', no buying/selling and look at the result now - European champions.

Violence at West Ham v Millwall match

Following this on Sky Sports news like everyone else. Apparently there's been lots of trouble outside the stadium resulting in at least one stabbing. West Ham currently leading 3-1 but the fans invaded the pitch after their second goal postponing play for a while. This is a disgrace and a kick in the teeth for all us genuine fans who do our best not to live up to the reputation of English fans and try to enjoy our game in a fun but not intimidating way. Regardless of the result, boot both clubs out of the competition and dock them some points. The football league can't dock little clubs like Chester huge numbers of points for financial problems and leave appalling behaviour like this from the bigger clubs unpunished.

Sol Campbell joins Notts County

Imagine the reaction of the bookie if you'd placed a bet a few months ago that Sven would end up at Notts County. Imagine his laughter if you'd gone on to do an accumulator with Sol Campbell. Well, if you have the gift of second sight you'll be counting your piles of money right now, as it has been confirmed today that the former England, Spurs, Arsenal and Pompey defender has gone on a free to the second division club.

Although big Sol hasn't been part of the England set-up since Capello took the helm, and although at 35 he is in the twilight of his career, Campbell is far from a desperate ageing star. Harry Redknapp has stated that he would have signed him for Spurs, if the fans their did not still harbour such a hatred for him after his move to Arsenal in 2001 (get over it Lilywhites ... footballers are allowed to change jobs just like the rest of us). Campbell confirmed that he'd had offers from Premiership clubs but chose the Notts County gig as it would keep him playing first team football for hopefully another 3 years and was a very interesting challenge for him to help take Notts County to the Premiership in this period.

Another of Campbell's former bosses, Arsene Wenger, has also sung the big defender's praises, but in typical Wenger style also added a note of caution; namely that Campbell would find the conditions in League 2 very different and might struggle mentally. Campbell has of course had problems in the past in this area, but hopefully it will be challenges of a more physical nature that will be the hardest to overcome, for example the pitches!!

Since Sven arrived at Notts County, rumours have been rife. Beckham has even been linked with the club!! It is however fascinating to see how what must be a fairytale for Notts County fans is unravelling - two weeks ago Schmeichel Junior arrived at the club and almost certainly Sven will have other surprises up his sleeve. It makes for great 5 live debates and blogging, so you have to wish the club (and Sol) luck.

Is Liverpool's title challenge over?

Liverpool's run of 31 unbeaten matches at home was abruptly ended last night, with an impressive defensive display from Aston Villa and a lacklustre performance from Liverpool resulting in a 1:3 defeat. Although the Scousers beat Stoke mid-week, their defeat to Spurs in the opening match of the season means they have lost the same amount of matches in 2 weeks as they did in the whole of last season. Liverpool are therefore six points behind early leaders Tottenham and Chelsea, who have won all three of their matches, while Arsenal and Manchester City hold 100% winning records with a game in hand on the leaders. It will be of small comfort to Liverpool fans that Manchester United have six points from three games, having lost to newly promoted Burnley last week.

Liverpool fans must be worried that the gap left by Alonso is proving significant, particularly as the intended replacement Alberto Aquilani is injured. Benitez has not been given the money to be anything like as active in the transfer market as 2 of the clubs currently ahead of Liverpool in the table (Man City and Spurs). The only remaining members of the victorious champions league squad are Gerrard, whose talisman status has taken a battering after giving away a penalty last night, and Carragher. Whether the rest of the sqaud have the quality to hold their own against the likes of Man U and Arsenal os yet to be seen, but the evidence so far this season is not promising. It would definitely be a great boost to the Anfield as well as the squad if Benitez could complete a big name signing before the end of the transfer window.

Clearly however anyone sensible will know that it is entirely possible to lose 2 matches and win the title race. The current holders, Man United, lost 4 matches in the 2008-9 season and 5 matches in the 2007-8 season. Suggesting that Benitez' men have no chance of winning their first league title in over 20 years is definitely premature, even if it does lessen the pain for Everton fans of being at the bottom of the table after some shocking performances.

So in answer to whether Liverpool's title challenge is over, I'd say not, but you'll get good odds right now! Plus if you know any reds, then it's a great line to wind them up!