Thursday, June 16, 2016
Friday, October 16, 2015
PREMIER LEAGUE: Gerrard reveals what Rodgers said after 'that' slip
Steven Gerrard has revealed what Brendan Rodgers said in the dressing room after the Liverpool captain's infamous slip against Chelsea.
Steven Gerrard admits he thinks about the infamous slip against Chelsea on a daily basis.
And now he has revealed what Brendan Rodgers said in the dressing room at half-time after Demba Ba capitalised on the Liverpool skipper's mistake.
The slip eventually lead to Chelsea winning 2-0 which ultimate cost Liverpool the title.
In his book, My Story, Gerrard recounts what Rodgers said to the rest of the team.
I had been straining the whole half to make something happen, so had Luis (Suarez). Chelsea just kept blunting us. And then I’d slipped. The dressing room was hushed.
“Look,” Brendan said, imploring the other players, “if anyone deserves to be bailed out it’s him.” His finger pointed at me. “Your captain needs you to all pay him back. The amount of times he’s pulled this club out of a mess and changed impossible situations and got players out of trouble are the stuff of legend.
Now it’s time you repay him. You’ve got forty-five minutes to do it.” Brendan looked at me. “Stevie, forget it,” he said. “It happens. Let’s all go out and win this game. We can do it.
While Rodgers ultimately had an underwhelming time in charge of Liverpool, many have come out in support of the Reds' former manager, and this incident gives a glimpse why.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Arsenal star Gabriel Paulista thanks God as FA overturn red card
Arsenal may have lost the battle at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but many fans feel like they have won the war following the Football Association's decision to rescind Gabriel Paulista's red card.
The Brazilian centre-back was given his marching orders by Mike Dean after appearing to swing a back-heeled kick at Chelsea striker Diego Costa. It was the culmination of a large altercation that appears to have been sparked by Costa's decision to grab Laurent Koscielny's face as if it was the last turkey on Christmas Eve. After the match, Arsene Wenger even admitted that Gabriel deserved a red card but fumed at the referee's decision to let Costa continue in the game.
However, after Arsenal's legal team combed through TV replays, a dossier was handed over to the FA claiming that Gabriel did not deserve to be sent off, and they have been successful.
The defender, who could play against Tottenham Hotspur in tonight's Capital One Cup tie, took to Instagram to celebrate the delightful news.
He said: "God is always fair. I want to thank @arsenal for all they have done for me!
#gabrielisagunner".
In what will surely infuriate Jose Mourinho, Costa was given a three-match ban for his role in the 2-0 victory over the Gunners after a specialist FA panel decided he was guilty of violent conduct. He will miss the Capital One Cup tie against Walsall as well as Premier League games against Newcastle and Southampton.
Gabriel may yet face a ban himself, albeit a shorter one, after being charged with improper conduct for not leaving the pitch in a swift manner after being sent off.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Does Things Like This Call For Video Technology In Football ?
What do you think about video technology in football.
Yes or NO
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Arsenal fan base in Nigeria---The Nigeria Gunners
Nigeria Gunners praying for Arsenal Football Club success.....
#spiritual# haha#AFC
How Pedro's disallowed goal sparked the bitter feud between Mourinho & Guardiola
By Ben Hayward---Goal.com
The Chelsea winger saw a strike ruled out in the 2011 Copa del Rey final as Barcelona lost to Real Madrid, leading to the war of words involving the Catalanand Portuguese coaches
It is one of football's famous feuds. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were friends and colleagues at Barcelona back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the former a midfielder for the Catalan club and the latter an assistant coach. But their relationship was damaged beyond repair in 2011 - and it all started, surprisingly, with Pedro.
The Spain winger is set to make his debut for Chelsea on Sunday against West Brom after sealing his move from Barcelona earlier this week - and he claimed Mourinho was one of the big factors behind his decision to join the Blues. Just a few years ago, however, theirs would have seemed an improbable alliance.
Pedro scored Barca's second goal in the Catalans' 5-0 drubbing of Mourinho's Madrid at Camp Nou in November 2010 - the worst defeat the Portuguese has suffered in his entire coaching career. But it was in April and early May later in that same season, as the two teams met four times within the space of 17 days, that the tension boiled over between Jose and Pep.
After a tense 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on April 16, Barca and Madrid met again four days later in the final of the Copa del Rey at Mestalla. And following a tight first half, Pedro thought he had broken the deadlock when he latched onto a pass from Lionel Messi and fired past Iker Casillas.
However, his strike was ruled offside, Guardiola waved his finger in disapproval on the sidelines, but replays showed the officials' decision was correct as Pedro was indeed a fraction beyond the last Madrid defender, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Real went on to win in extra-time as Cristiano Ronaldo headed home from an Angel Di Maria cross.
In a packed press room after the match, Guardiola appeared to question the decision. "The assistant must have great eyesight to spot that Pedro was two centimetres offside," the Catalan coach quipped.
But six days later, ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg clash between the two teams at the Bernabeu, Mourinho mocked the words of his Barca counterpart.
"We have started a new cycle," he began. "Up until now there was a very small group of coaches who didn't talk about referees and a very large group, in which I am included, who criticise referees. Now, with Pep's comments, we have started a new era with a third group, in which there is only him, that criticises the referee when he makes correct decisions. This is completely new to me."
The Portuguese's provocations had previously had little effect on Guardiola, but with his team beaten at Mestalla and a Champions League semi-final ahead, the former Barca boss chose to react this time with a statement of intent - in the Bernabeu press room of all places.
In the first of the three images above, Pedro can be seen protesting the assistant's decision to disallow his strike in the 2011 Copa final - the action that led to Mourinho's mocking of Guardiola and then Pep's press-room rant days later. In the second picture, the two coaches shake hands but avoid eye contact prior to the Champions League semi-final first leg meeting between Madrid and Barca at the Bernabeu days later and in the third photograph, Pedro and Pep are all smiles after the winger scored to secure a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou and passage to the final thanks to a 3-1 aggregate win over Real.
The winger went on to net in the final too as Barca beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley with an extraordinary exhibition of attacking football.
And asked just a couple of months later if Guardiola was a better coach than Mourinho, the winger was in little doubt. "It's obvious that Guardiola is better," he said. "From the moment he arrived at the club he has responded. For me, he is the best coach in the world and he has been able to handle world-class players."
Pedro subsequently saw Mourinho at his worst as the Portuguese poked then Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye as the sides' Spanish Supercopa series turned ugly a month later and the Clasico clashes continued to be marked by ill feeling and animosity.
But less than four years on, the winger will now work with the Portuguese at Chelsea and Pedro revealed Mourinho had played a pivotal part in his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
It is one of football's famous feuds. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were friends and colleagues at Barcelona back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the former a midfielder for the Catalan club and the latter an assistant coach. But their relationship was damaged beyond repair in 2011 - and it all started, surprisingly, with Pedro.
The Spain winger is set to make his debut for Chelsea on Sunday against West Brom after sealing his move from Barcelona earlier this week - and he claimed Mourinho was one of the big factors behind his decision to join the Blues. Just a few years ago, however, theirs would have seemed an improbable alliance.
Pedro scored Barca's second goal in the Catalans' 5-0 drubbing of Mourinho's Madrid at Camp Nou in November 2010 - the worst defeat the Portuguese has suffered in his entire coaching career. But it was in April and early May later in that same season, as the two teams met four times within the space of 17 days, that the tension boiled over between Jose and Pep.
After a tense 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on April 16, Barca and Madrid met again four days later in the final of the Copa del Rey at Mestalla. And following a tight first half, Pedro thought he had broken the deadlock when he latched onto a pass from Lionel Messi and fired past Iker Casillas.
However, his strike was ruled offside, Guardiola waved his finger in disapproval on the sidelines, but replays showed the officials' decision was correct as Pedro was indeed a fraction beyond the last Madrid defender, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Real went on to win in extra-time as Cristiano Ronaldo headed home from an Angel Di Maria cross.
In a packed press room after the match, Guardiola appeared to question the decision. "The assistant must have great eyesight to spot that Pedro was two centimetres offside," the Catalan coach quipped.
But six days later, ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg clash between the two teams at the Bernabeu, Mourinho mocked the words of his Barca counterpart.
"We have started a new cycle," he began. "Up until now there was a very small group of coaches who didn't talk about referees and a very large group, in which I am included, who criticise referees. Now, with Pep's comments, we have started a new era with a third group, in which there is only him, that criticises the referee when he makes correct decisions. This is completely new to me."
The Portuguese's provocations had previously had little effect on Guardiola, but with his team beaten at Mestalla and a Champions League semi-final ahead, the former Barca boss chose to react this time with a statement of intent - in the Bernabeu press room of all places.
"Señor Mourinho has permitted himself the luxury of calling me Pep, so I will call him Jose," Guardiola said. "Which one is your camera, Jose? All of them, I suppose...
"Tomorrow at 8.45pm we face each other on the pitch. He has won the battle off the pitch. If he wants his own personal Champions League trophy away from the pitch, let him take it home and enjoy it.
"In this room, Mourinho is the f***ing chief, the f***ing boss. He knows all about this and I don't want to compete with him in here. I'd just like to remind him that I worked with him for four years [at Barcelona]. He knows me and I know him.
"If he prefers to value the views of the journalist friends who take their information in a drip feed from Florentino Perez more than the relationship we had for four years, then, that's his choice. I try to learn from Jose on the pitch, but I prefer to learn as little as possible from him off the pitch."
When he returned to his hotel dining room, the Barca players stood to greet Guardiola with a round of applause. And on the pitch a day later, the Blaugrana beat Madrid 2-0. This time, unlike in the final of the Copa days earlier, refereeing decisions went in Barca's favour. Mourinho had met his match.
The Portuguese was sent off for his protests after Pepe was dismissed for a wild challenge on Dani Alves and he decided against attending the second leg at Camp Nou, watching instead from his hotel in the Catalan capital as Pedro scored in a 1-1 draw that saw Barca progress to the final."Tomorrow at 8.45pm we face each other on the pitch. He has won the battle off the pitch. If he wants his own personal Champions League trophy away from the pitch, let him take it home and enjoy it.
"In this room, Mourinho is the f***ing chief, the f***ing boss. He knows all about this and I don't want to compete with him in here. I'd just like to remind him that I worked with him for four years [at Barcelona]. He knows me and I know him.
"If he prefers to value the views of the journalist friends who take their information in a drip feed from Florentino Perez more than the relationship we had for four years, then, that's his choice. I try to learn from Jose on the pitch, but I prefer to learn as little as possible from him off the pitch."
When he returned to his hotel dining room, the Barca players stood to greet Guardiola with a round of applause. And on the pitch a day later, the Blaugrana beat Madrid 2-0. This time, unlike in the final of the Copa days earlier, refereeing decisions went in Barca's favour. Mourinho had met his match.
In the first of the three images above, Pedro can be seen protesting the assistant's decision to disallow his strike in the 2011 Copa final - the action that led to Mourinho's mocking of Guardiola and then Pep's press-room rant days later. In the second picture, the two coaches shake hands but avoid eye contact prior to the Champions League semi-final first leg meeting between Madrid and Barca at the Bernabeu days later and in the third photograph, Pedro and Pep are all smiles after the winger scored to secure a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou and passage to the final thanks to a 3-1 aggregate win over Real.
The winger went on to net in the final too as Barca beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley with an extraordinary exhibition of attacking football.
And asked just a couple of months later if Guardiola was a better coach than Mourinho, the winger was in little doubt. "It's obvious that Guardiola is better," he said. "From the moment he arrived at the club he has responded. For me, he is the best coach in the world and he has been able to handle world-class players."
Pedro subsequently saw Mourinho at his worst as the Portuguese poked then Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye as the sides' Spanish Supercopa series turned ugly a month later and the Clasico clashes continued to be marked by ill feeling and animosity.
But less than four years on, the winger will now work with the Portuguese at Chelsea and Pedro revealed Mourinho had played a pivotal part in his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
"Mourinho is one of the main reasons I'm here," he said. "He called me a couple of times and told me he needed me to strengthen the team."
It is quite the unexpected turnaround after all that went on during the Mourinho-Guardiola fallout that inadvertently started with Pedro's disallowed goal in Valencia. But football, as Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, is a funny old game.
It is quite the unexpected turnaround after all that went on during the Mourinho-Guardiola fallout that inadvertently started with Pedro's disallowed goal in Valencia. But football, as Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, is a funny old game.
Source: www.goal.com
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Crystal Palace v Arsenal - Fixture History
Crystal Palace 3RD
Crystal Palace have won 0, drawn 2 and lost 4 of the last 6 stagings of this fixture, being outscored by their opponents by 10 goals to 3.
C.Palace have scored in 75% of their last 20 home games.
C.Palace have kept a clean sheet in 15% of their last 20 home games.
Arsenal 19TH Arsenal have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 0 of the last 6 stagings of this fixture, outscoring their opponents by 10 goals to 3.
Arsenal have scored in 90% of their last 20 away games.
Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in 30% of their last 20 away games.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)