Archive for July, 2011

I was a little surprised to hear about the alleged abuse a few fans directed at Yossi Benayoun during Chelsea's recent friendly against Malaysia All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur.

It is a predominantly Muslim country, but even so I would have expected people there to just appreciate one of the Premier League's biggest clubs coming to town rather than take the opportunity to have a go at a player just because they happen to be from Israel. ...

You probably missed it (the papers barely seemed to notice and the BBC could only rustle up 230 member of staff to go along and cover it) but the London Olympics opens in just a year's time.

In 52 weeks from now, Steve Redgrave or Daley Thompson or Kelly Holmes will light the flame and the country's sportswriters will become instant experts on Greco-Roman wrestling, pistol shooting and the scoring system of synchronised swimming. ...

There is a fashion emerging in the Premier League: if you want to get ahead, get yourself a South American. Next season, the majority of the country's top clubs will be spearheaded by South Americans, largely relying on them to supply the goals.

At Manchester United

There is a fashion emerging in the Premier League: if you want to get ahead, get yourself a South American. Next season, most of the country's top six clubs will be spear-headed by South Americans, largely relying on them to supply the goals. At Manchester United Javier Hernandez (all right, strictly a central American) has already out-stripped all expectation, settling into his new club with panache and dash. ...

I wanted to write a blog about the declining financial muscle of English clubs, because it felt to me that in recent years the Premier League has struggled to compete in the transfer market.

This summer in particular has seen plenty of big-money transfers within the division - Ashley Young, Phil Jones, Jordan Henderson - but relatively few major imports.

When I checked the facts, however, my hunch was blown out of the water. ...

Mario Balotelli's latest bout of bad behaviour has laid down the gauntlet for Roberto Mancini to prove his worth as a manager and deal with what is becoming a real problem for Manchester City. As far as I am concerned, the best way he can do that is to sell the player and rid his squad of a damaging element. ...

The impasse over the future of Carlos Tevez following the collapse of his move to Corinthians leaves both player and club in an awkward position.

After so publicly declaring he wants to leave Manchester City and then seeing his move to Brazil fall through this week, Tevez finds himself in a corner. He has been crying and screaming for 10 months about how he wants to leave the club due to personal issues, and I don't think Roberto Mancini wants him there. ...

It is that time of year again. Just as the riders in the Tour face their final gut-sapping climb, just as the ground staff at Lord's wheel on the covers for the fifteenth time, just as Goodwood glistens at its most glorious, so it is time to look ahead and select your fantasy football team for the new season.

The discussions in our house have been endless, heated and pointed. ...

Back in April, I wrote about Fernando Torres's struggles, insisting he is far from finished at the top level and suggesting the root lay in Chelsea's tactics.

But following a dispiriting outing in today's 1-0 friendly win against a weak Malaysia All-Star side, it is hard not to conclude that Torres's problems exist overwhelmingly inside his own head. ...

The latest research on the ageing process concludes that if you want to stay young, sure it helps doing exercise, eating a healthy diet, avoiding the pickling of your liver in booze and finishing the Sudoku every day. But the best thing of all is to maintain an optimistic outlook. Apparently endlessly moaning about your lot is just about guaranteed to provoke premature senility.

In which case, you wonder how Carlos Tevez will feel when time catches up with him. ...