Barcelona face a season defining encounter against Milan
Barcelona may well have the league title wrapped up in cotton wool, but their Champions League hopes hang by a thread following a 2-0 defeat away at AC Milan a week ago. The Italians head into the return leg next week with an unlikely two goal advantage, and will hoping to see out a Barcelona onslaught at the Nou Camp in under a weeks time. A lot of people claim that the Barcelona of 2012/13 are not quite as good as their team the year previous but the performances of Lionel Messi have been nothing short of majestic, notching up 39 goals in the La Liga alone, with a real chance of hitting the Continue reading »
Fantasy Football Focus: What Premier League players should you look at?
It’s that stage of the season again. Your Fantasy League team is either – in my case – trailing behind your mate’s teams, or if you’re one of the lucky ones, you are looking to pull away at the top of the table. We have just entered February, the month where Fantasy Football business well and truly enters the final straight. Who do you choose to captain your team? Who do you trust between the sticks to keep a clean sheet and pull off a few saves? Indeed, who do you slot in midfield with the expectancy they will goal creator for your Continue reading »
Do Manchester United supporters fancy their chances against Real Madrid?
Optimism is a great thing. Realism is quite another.
When Manchester United were drawn against Real Madrid in the first knockout stage of the Champions League, everyone’s mind wandered to Cristiano Ronaldo and his imminent return to Old Trafford, indeed his first return since departing in the summer of 2009. The stylish magician would – in March – reenter the ‘cathedral’ that helped him on his way to becoming one of the best footballers in the world. Old Trafford is the place where he made a name for himself. In fact, Old Trafford could be where the Portuguese maestro helps eliminate Continue reading »
Manchester City can’t keep relying on Edin Džeko to get them out of jail
To say Eden Džeko is becoming a bit of a ‘super-sub’ would be a slight understatement. Yet again the powerful Bosnian showed up with at the death, to ensure an extremely important 3 points for Manchester City, and stake yet another claim for a starting role at the Etihad.
It seems this season that Manchester City must concede before they actually start playing football.
Steven Caulker found himself on the end of Tom Huddlestone free-kick to head the visitors in front, and they held that leads to the latter stages of the game. Sergio Aguero Continue reading »
How did Liverpool & Brendan Rodgers end up in such a limbo?
If there is one thing any neutral supporter, or indeed Liverpool fan learned from today’s draw with Sunderland – it’s that Brendan Rodgers has a real job on his hands.
I ended up watching this evenings game as it was the only thing on TV. My word, what a shocking game it was. Both sides were truly dreadful. For anyone who didn’t actually see the game; don’t be fooled by the fact there were a couple of goals.
Never have I seen a Liverpool side lacking so much in conviction, and penetration. Gerrard looked rusty to put it mildly while Allen was quite frankly anonymous for the Continue reading »
Doyle’s late winner fails to mask Ireland’s diabolical performance
When Robbie Keane slotted home an 89th minute penalty on Friday evening, there was something very reminiscent about his equaliser. Immediately most Irish fans thought of Stephen Ireland’s late goal away against San Marino four years ago – a goal that saved our embarrassment until the next fixture.
The smash and grab in Kazakhstan prevented what was going to be Ireland’s most embarrassing result in more than a decade.
No offence to Kazakhstan, but a team like Ireland should be going there and taking home three points in a less gut wrenching fashion. Personally, I only managed to Continue reading »
