It was an amazing Samir Nasri that saw Arsenal dismis host Fulham with a lot of ease. Fulham fought a good fight though. Nasri danced and dazzled the hosts defence and fired 2 very crucial goals. His mesmerising footwork will be key to the aspirations of the Gunners. He has been equally key to Alex Song and Lukasz Fabianski.
Chelsea's loss of steam is still an eye saw for many and they lost the top spot to Arsenal after a 1-1 draw with Everton. Didier Drogba converted a penalty to level the score and points, but truly, The Blues are just singing the blues.
Tottenham Hotspur released some pressure off the gas pedal and dropped vital points at Birmingham City. Manchester City did their campaign a lot of good with a Carlos Tevez goal. Manchester United will have to play their match sometime after the frozen pitch rendered the fixture unfulfilled. This will see the Gunners warm the spot for a while. It will be seen how United will respond in trying to make up for lost ground.
West Brom beat Newcastle by 3 beautifully taken goals against 1. Sunderland were 1-0 victors over West Ham.
Where do you think the Premiership is going given the inconsistency of the perennial contenders?
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Russia and Qatar to host 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.
Russia budgeted $4 billion for the stadia, of which 5 will be built from scratch. It will be new territory and history making as FIFA goes east Europe and the challenge is attractive enough for football as end of the monotony of the game will be the legacy of the FIFA President who promised radicalism cup on being elected, and he is not disappointing.
Qatar have crazy petro dollars and will be building the state of the art stadia with insane climate control technology for the extreme desert weather. The first Middle East and Muslim nation to host the FIFA World Cup, complete some crazy moments of the game ever. Just this year, Africa showed the world an incredible spectacle when South Africa hosted the first ever 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was an event that was met with scepticism from nay sayers, but then went on to break so many records and introduced the world to a different class of celebration.
The Russia and Qatar bids may not have been easy choices by any means, given that the historical custodians of the game, England had proved they will have 100% returns all round in financial terms. They had hosted the FIFA World Cup before in 1966. They had David Beckam, the football's most recognised and influential figure of all time. They had Prince William, heir to the Throne and charismatic Prime Minister, David Cameron in their powerful bidding team.
The way South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup was surely a catalyst in winning the bids for smaller nations. It was almost like, if Africa can do it, surely, why not Russia or Qatar. In all fairness, central Europe hosted the 2006 version in Germany. Given also the fact that the USA hosted the 1994, breaking new ground and crossing political and religious barriers, Qatar was a balanced option. Qatar also fell in love with the vuvuzela and I can promise a better version of the instrument or even better. That is the beauty of taking the game to other areas and traditions.
Frankly, the Qatari delegation will have sleepless nights pinching themselves. They surely thought they were making numbers. Nonetheless, they did a great job and believed in themselves. It was a bid they built from the bottom with nothing. In comparison,the English almost wanted to hold FIFA at ransom as the owners of the game. It was a valid point though, they somehow needed to host this tournament for once, but then, they seem to want to host it to win it.
I will not take anything away from the deserved winners of both Russia and Qatar. Congratulations.
The true Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates Derby in Telkom Cup Final
Kaizer Chiefs will be playing Orlando Pirates in the derbiest match of recent times in a Telkom Knockout Cup final this weekend. Chiefs beat Pirates 3-1 in a league encounter but went on to lose by the same margin against rookies, Vasco da Gama. The Bucs have since recorded successive victories over Maritzburg United.
If you know your football, these stats count for nothing. They will tell you how this is a whole new game. Pirates and Chiefs have met in the Telkom Charity Cup and the MTN-8 semi-final as well as in the league encounters. One thing brewing is that there will be thunder and lightining at the FNB Stadium at the weekend.
In the league encounters elsewhere, Motor Action drew 1-1 with Gunners to completely thwart any mathematical chances for Highlanders to win the title. Dynamos lost to Kiglon by a goal to nil but are still within touching distance. Motor Action will be in action against Bosso at BF this Sunday.
If you know your football, these stats count for nothing. They will tell you how this is a whole new game. Pirates and Chiefs have met in the Telkom Charity Cup and the MTN-8 semi-final as well as in the league encounters. One thing brewing is that there will be thunder and lightining at the FNB Stadium at the weekend.
In the league encounters elsewhere, Motor Action drew 1-1 with Gunners to completely thwart any mathematical chances for Highlanders to win the title. Dynamos lost to Kiglon by a goal to nil but are still within touching distance. Motor Action will be in action against Bosso at BF this Sunday.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
UEFA judgement is nonsense
If Barcelona's 5-0 hammering of Real Madrid is anything to go by in footballing prowess, surely West Ham United's 4-0 whitewash of Manchester United cannot be. At best, it is a fluke, but frankly who cares.
West Ham anchor the Braclays Premier League, the position they have guarded jealously for a while now. Their Carling Cup victory over the team at the other end of the table is likely to boost their confidence in the coming matches. They always played well but failed to get the results.
Manchester had always managed to get results without playing a thing. It could be time they started to earn their points and place in the top of the league. Last weekend's 7-1 win over Blackburn Rovers showed their good side but was largely due to lack of interest from Rovers. West Ham were in a less charitable mood. For United fans, the least said about it the better and I will not speak.
Arsenal are still in familiar territory in the Cup. It is still to be seen if they will be reaching their dreaded area of supremacy for once. Their 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic came from a gifted goal and Nicklus Bendtner. Arsene Wenger's side has all the ingredients they need to win this one and for me, this won't mean a thing about their ability. It is well well overdue and at this point, the Gunners should have been too tired to win this Cup or even the FA Cup. They are a teams that should be gunning for the UEFA Champions League final.
Talking of the Champions League, UEFA slapped Jose Mourinho with a heavy fine of EUR40, 000 and ban, to add salt to the 5-0 defeat to Barca at the weekend. Real was fined EUR120,000 while players Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek were fined around EUR17,000. This followed what they called instructions to have players be suspended for the final group stage matches so they could be available for the more important knock-out stage.
UEFA are over the top with this one. They must never involve themselves with such issues at all. All the bans and fines combined should have been handed to Ajax Amsterdam for failing to give Real Madrid enough opposition. Even other teams in the group are liable for what happened. Basically, teams that qualify early will also field weaker teams to rest their best players. Those teams do not get punished. If the same justice applies to all teams, assuming they are all equal, the scenario must never be allowed to prevail. Teams must be forced to field their best teams always.
If that is not the case, Real were free to do as they please because Ajax did not give them reason to play with 11 men and these players were wasting their own time playing a team that was not interested in offering opposition to Real. For Ramos and Xavi to be available when they are needed most, Jose knew what was available to him and he used it. The noise, bans and fines are just too hypocritical. That is nonsense.
West Ham anchor the Braclays Premier League, the position they have guarded jealously for a while now. Their Carling Cup victory over the team at the other end of the table is likely to boost their confidence in the coming matches. They always played well but failed to get the results.
Manchester had always managed to get results without playing a thing. It could be time they started to earn their points and place in the top of the league. Last weekend's 7-1 win over Blackburn Rovers showed their good side but was largely due to lack of interest from Rovers. West Ham were in a less charitable mood. For United fans, the least said about it the better and I will not speak.
Arsenal are still in familiar territory in the Cup. It is still to be seen if they will be reaching their dreaded area of supremacy for once. Their 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic came from a gifted goal and Nicklus Bendtner. Arsene Wenger's side has all the ingredients they need to win this one and for me, this won't mean a thing about their ability. It is well well overdue and at this point, the Gunners should have been too tired to win this Cup or even the FA Cup. They are a teams that should be gunning for the UEFA Champions League final.
Talking of the Champions League, UEFA slapped Jose Mourinho with a heavy fine of EUR40, 000 and ban, to add salt to the 5-0 defeat to Barca at the weekend. Real was fined EUR120,000 while players Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek were fined around EUR17,000. This followed what they called instructions to have players be suspended for the final group stage matches so they could be available for the more important knock-out stage.
UEFA are over the top with this one. They must never involve themselves with such issues at all. All the bans and fines combined should have been handed to Ajax Amsterdam for failing to give Real Madrid enough opposition. Even other teams in the group are liable for what happened. Basically, teams that qualify early will also field weaker teams to rest their best players. Those teams do not get punished. If the same justice applies to all teams, assuming they are all equal, the scenario must never be allowed to prevail. Teams must be forced to field their best teams always.
If that is not the case, Real were free to do as they please because Ajax did not give them reason to play with 11 men and these players were wasting their own time playing a team that was not interested in offering opposition to Real. For Ramos and Xavi to be available when they are needed most, Jose knew what was available to him and he used it. The noise, bans and fines are just too hypocritical. That is nonsense.
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