Dimitar Berbatov | Global Football Today

Thirteen Minutes Of Ecstacy

Posted by Ivor Irwin on November 4, 2013 at 4:31 pm Blogs/Media, England, From the GFT Blogs, Fulham, Manchester United

Nov 042013

Fulham 1-3 Manchester United
United’s manager David Moyes will surely be delighted with his team’s thirteen minute spell of razor-sharp ruthlessness, expanding their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions with a well deserved fourth consecutive win. Not bad at all, but we want more!

Victories featuring the fingers-crossed, gormless pairing of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley in central midfield are bound to be as rare as hen’s teeth. Allowed huge mounts of space by the geriatric, stiff-upper-lipped London-Lad pairing of Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker, Messrs, Van Persie and Rooney had the run of Craven Cottage and enjoyed themselves tremendously. This season they will rarely get as easy a first half as they did at Craven Cottage.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Fulham’s embattled manager, Martin Jol; but, if it’s horses for courses, his team never stood a chance. A lackluster defeat at Southampton last weekend and a mid-week Capital One Cup exit to Leicester City in midweek have Jol teetering like a drunk on the North Face of the Eiger. After having made the footballing Lord of laissez-faire, Dimitar Berbatov, his captain for the day, it may be that the big Dutchman has given up the ghost already and is simply awaiting the whisper of the axe. The latest bookmaker free bets can be especially interesting.

Fulham fell a goal behind only nine minutes in as a sharp United effortlessly dissected the Cottagers anemic defense. Beautifully functional in execution, Robin Van Persie hoovered up a long Nemanja Vidic pass and swiveled exquisitely before playing in an unselfish Rooney, who cut the ball back to Valencia. The Ecuadorian winger took his time and expertly prodded home his chance.

With Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones quicker than Sidwell and Parker in the first half, who needed Michael Carrick or Marouane Fellaini? But having made a few useful plays, once relaxed, Tom Cleverley really does love to give the ball away to the opposition and Scott Parker seized on two telegraphed efforts. The first time, he, too missed with his pass, but the second time he put in a fine pass to Dimitar Berbatov. Fortunately, Rafael Da Silva made a clever, well-timed tackle to frustrate the Bulgarian striker. Moments later, however, United dismantled any sense of self-esteem the West Londoners had quickly built up, scoring twice more in the space of four minutes.

The brilliant Adnan Januzaj was the instrument of the second goal. After having been dispossessed by Parker, Parker went down in a dramatic heap after losing it back to the young Belgian. But the referee, Lee Probert, was having none of it and, while Parker jumped back up to argue, the baby-faced assassin was off to the races before passing to an unmarked Van Persie, who powered the ball home from 15 yards out. Two minutes more and Rooney made child’s play of a tap-in after a fine sweeping diagonal run made it 3-0.

In the second half, not helped at all by injuries to Rafael, Cleverley and Evans, United made three substitutions and suddenly turned promiscuously lax. It would be pointless to blame Chris Smalling, Marouane Fellaini or Shinji Kagawa, when collective vanity and complacency were the true problem. With Jones and Fellaini now policing midfield, United were too static to to think in terms of their usual counterattacking tactics. Apart from Rooney, Van Persie, and the ebulient Januzaj, United’s collective confidence seemed to suddenly drain away.

Relentlessly sloppy, United looked all set to botch yet another match after the 65th minute, when a 20-yard shot by Alexander Kacaniklic pinged into the net after taking a deflection off Valencia. Still way too casual even then, United began to miss pass after pass and stopped chasing and pressing. And things really tightened up tremendously after Jol made a couple of wise decisions. First, in the 75th minute, the big Dutchman substituted Berbatov’s partner-in-sloth Bryan Ruiz with Adel Taarabt. Soon after, on came Darren Bent for a tired Scott Parker. The graft and passing prowess that Taraabt added to his team’s midfield almost paid off with a couple of headers from Bent and Berbatov that hit United’s upright.

The subdued home crowd were only roused when it came to booing. Letting Bryan Ruiz have it when he left the field and Darren Bent when he came on. There was also a serious confrontation between Marouane Fellaini and right back Sascha Riether after the Fulham defender clearly appeared to stamp on Adnan Januzaj. Clearly, Januzaj, with his amazing capacity to dribble, enrage his opponents and draw free kicks so well, is already becoming a special part of the Premier League.

Considering the concussion suffered by Tom Cleverley and the high number of foul and indignities perpetrated on Adnan Januzaj, it’s about time Marouane Fellaini was kept out on the pitch to serve and protect his teammates. This protection factor is, right now, essential!

Permalink Posted by Ivor Irwin on November 4, 2013 at 4:17 pm Blogs/Media

Nov 042013

Fulham 1-3 Manchester United
United’s manager David Moyes will surely be delighted with his team’s thirteen minute spell of razor-sharp ruthlessness, expanding their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions with a well deserved fourth consecutive win. Victories featuring the fingers-crossed, gormless pairing of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley in central midfield, are bound to be as rare as hen’s teeth. Allowed huge mounts of space by the geriatric stiff-upper-lipped London-Lad pairing of Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker. Messrs, Van Persie and Rooney had the run of Craven Cottage and enjoyed themselves tremendously. They will rarely get as easy a first half as they did at Craven Cottage.
It was hard not to feel sorry for Fulham’s embattled manager, Martin Jol; but, if it’s horses for courses, his team never stood a chance. A lackluster defeat at Southampton last weekend and a mid-week Capital One Cup exit to Leicester City in midweek have Jol teetering like a drunk on the North Face of the Eiger. After having made the footballing Lord of laissez-faire, Dimitar Berbatov, his captain for the day, it may be that the big Dutchman has given up the ghost already and is simply awaiting the whisper of the axe.
Fulham fell a goal behind only nine minutes in as a sharp United effortlessly dissected the Cottagers anemic defense. Beautifully functional in execution, Robin Van Persie hoovered up a long Nemanja Vidic pass and swiveled exquisitely before playing in an unselfish Rooney, who cut the ball back to Valencia, who made no mistake. It was a neat bang bang play and very easy on the eyes.
With Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones quicker than Sidwell and Parker in the first half, who needed Michael Carrick or Marouane Fellaini? But having made a few useful plays, once relaxed, Tom Cleverley really does love to give the ball away to the opposition and Scott Parker seized on two telegraphed efforts. The first time, he, too missed with his pass, but the second time he put in a fine pass to Dimitar Berbatov. Fortunately, Rafael Da Silva made a clever, well-timed tackle to frustrate the Bulgarian striker. Moments later, however, United dismantled any sense of self-esteem the West Londoners had built up scoring twice more in the space of four minutes.
The brilliant Adnan Januzaj was the instrument of the second goal. After having been dispossessed by Parker, Parker went down in a dramatic heap after losing it back to the young Belgian. But the referee, Lee Probrert, was having none of it and, while Parker jumped back up to argue, the baby-faced assassin was off to the races before passing to an unmarked Van Persie, who powered the ball home from 15 yards out. Two minutes more and Rooney made child’s play of a tap-in after a fine sweeping diagonal run made it 3-0.
In the second half, not helped at all by injuries to Rafael, Cleverley and Evans, United made three substitutions and suddenly turned promiscuously lax. It would be pointless to blame Chris Smalling, Marouane Fellaini or Patrice Evra, when collective vanity and complacency were the true problem.
Relentlessly sloppy, United looked all set to botch yet another match after the 65th minute, when a 20-yard shot by Alexander Kacaniklic pinged into the net after taking a deflection off Valencia. Still way too casual, even then, United began to miss pass after pass and stopped chasing and pressing. But things tightened up tremendously after Jol made a couple of wise decisions. First, in the75th minute ,Jol substituted Berbatov’s partner-in-sloth Bryan Ruiz with Adel Taarabt. Soon after, on came Darren Bent for a tired Scott Parker. The graft and passing prowess that Taraabt added to his team’s midfield almost paid off with a couple of headers from Bent and Berbatov that hit United’s upright.
The subdued home crowd were only roused when it came to booing. Letting Bryan Ruiz have it when he left the field and Darren Bent when he came on. There was also a serious confrontation between Marouane Fellaini and right back Sascha Riether after the Fulham defender clearly appeared to stamp on Adnan Januzaj. Clearly, Januzaj, with his amazing capacity to dribble, enrage his opponents and draw free kicks so well, is already becoming a special part of the Premier League

United Ease Past A Blasé Fulham!

Posted by Ivor Irwin on January 29, 2013 at 6:08 pm Blogs/Media, England, EPL, From the GFT Blogs, Fulham, Global Football Today, Manchester United

Jan 292013

Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
Funny club, Fulham. United have statues of the trinity, Busby and you-know-who outside Old Trafford. Fulham have a dreadful one of Johnny Haines and a gigantic thing remembering Michael Jackson, who is famous for many reasons, none of which have anything at all to do with football. Having flogged their two best performers, Moussa Dembelé and Clint Dempsey, for a healthy profit to Spurs, their manager Martin Jol picked up United’s sad-sack, capricious pseudo-striker Dimitar Berbatov, one of the rare expensive toys the Gaffer chose to toss out of his pram on the cheap. Beggars can’t be choosers, even if your owner is Muhammad Al-Fayed, when your London next-door-neighbor is Roman Abramovich’s oil cash Laundromat at Stamford Bridge . Hope springs eternal, whether you’re the manager or a Cottagers fan, but Jol’s claim at his Friday night press conference that Berbatov was “in the state of mind for one of his hat-tricks” was up there in the fantasy betting stakes of Google locating and mapping Shangri-La and Utopia.

It took but 45 or so seconds for Berbatov’s face to take on that familiar 5,000 kilometer stare we’re all so familiar with as a probing Rooney shot caused instantaneous panic in Fulham’s back line and was deflected for a corner. Wazza’s corner led to Aaron Hughes getting all in a dither as Chris Smalling rose with him for the ball, needlessly raising a hand to divert the ball. Referee Mark Clattenburg wasted no time pointing to the spot. With Rooney still in the Gaffer’s dog house for an accumulation of missed penalties, it was left to the grizzled old Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs to calmly step up and slot the ball home.

Then, 21 minutes in, Giggs had a second penalty chance disallowed as Damian Duff took a chance in sticking an arm out when another one of his passes caught Flham’s whole defense flat-footed. Referee Mark Clattenburg, long up there in the F.A.’s refereeing pantheon of caprice with Howard Webb and Phil Dowd decided to let this one go. Yet, Clattenburg’s decison proved to be of no no consequence. Bad then turned to worse for Fulham. Their abject state of disarray lingered. Bryan Ruiz made a series of bad passes, two of which were intercepted by Giggs. Attempts to feed Berbatov were not so much badly executed, as, having been aimed about fifteen feet in front of the Bulgar prima-donna, invitations for the shiftless genius to run, which was never going to happen. Consequently, after other passes from the likes of Sidwell and Duff failed to land on his toe, Berbatov began to spend more onfield time bawling out his teammates in frustration than running..

Yet before United truly began to dismantle Fulham with a surgical grace, in the second half, the Cottagers managed to hold on to their luck. Anderson and Giggs came close twice and three fantastic saves by Schwartzer from Rooney and Nani kept them in the game. The Cottagers ran out of lucky breaks once the second half began, however.

First, an exquisitely hit Anderson pass found Rooney just inside the box and the Scouser had no problem blasting it past a marooned Mark Schwartzer. Minutes on, Rooney turned schemer. After executing a lovely little step-over and foot switch that Ronaldo would have been proud of, Rooney passed to Nani.. Nani missed his shot on goal, but the rebound bounced back to Rooney off Schwartzer. This time, Rooney fed a short pass to Hernandez, who tapped home the third.

Minutes later, the cheeky Chicharito got his second of the day, as the hapless Aaron Hughes let a Giggs cross bounce off his knee, missed making a clearance, and watched in horror as Schwartzer, already committed to moving in the wrong direction, had no way to stop the Mexican striker’s nicely executed tap-in of a fourth.

Fulham did pull a goal back, as a sloppy United defense allowed itself to become lax again and an unmarked Hughes headed in a corner from winger substitute Giorgos Karagounis’s with 15 minutes to go. And although they did not oppose United with much passion, Fulham may not really be quite as bad as they often looked. After all, on the day, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney looked good enough to take on any opponent. Fulham are clearly not Real Madrid and neither will be Reading, who they face at home in the Sixth Round. Still, if United hope to have a chance against the Spanish champions, they will need Sunday’s Rooney and a far less lax back four.

Barclay’s Premier League Week 3 Wrap-up

Posted by Lanny Short on September 3, 2012 at 7:01 pm Breaking News, England, EPL

Sep 032012

West Ham 3 – 0 Fulham
Andy Carroll announced his presence at Upton Park with convincing authority as the Irons triumph over the Cottagers in this week’s London Derby. Carroll dominated the visitor’s defense and made Brede Hangeland look very ordinary for the 68 minutes of the match. The Irons got the first goal in the first minute when Carroll flicked on a long, clearing kick from James Collins and the ball fell in the path of Ricardo Vaz Te. Vaz Te then played the ball over to Kevin Nolan who calmly finished the move in the back of keeper Mark Schwarzer’s goal. The goal happened so fast, the Upton Park Bubbles hadn’t even finished fading away. It was all pretty easy for West Ham from there. The second goal came in the 29th minute when Winston Reid got on the end of a Matthew Taylor corner and easily flicked it into the lower corner of the Fulham goal. It was easy pickings for Reid as the Fulham defense was all concentrated on Carroll, who once again, out jumped Hangeland to help the ball on to Reid. The third goal came in the 41st minute when James Collins’ free-kick in toward was headed clear by Hangeland and fell to the feet of Taylor. Taylor hit a great strike from the edge of the penalty area and found the target low and to keeper Schwarzer’s lower right side. Fulham look lost with out former players Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele. They never really threatened in this match and the introduction of Dimitar Berbatov in the second half for Mladen Petric did little to change things. The match did not end on a good note for Iron’s boss Same Allardyce as it Carroll appeared to have picked up an injury and had to be taked off at the 68th minute. Word is that he will miss both of England’s World Cup qualifying matches. However, when he does return, he looks like good fit for West Ham in their quest to stay up in the Premiership.

Swansea 2 – 2 Sunderland
Black Cats’ new signing Stephen Fletcher grabs a brace and ends the Swans 100% Premier League record. The Swans were eager to impress their home fans at the Liberty Stadium and all seemed to have started well for them. Wayne Routledge should have been awarded an early penalty and Nathan Dyer had a sure goal denied by Black Cat’s keeper Simon Mignolet. But the Swans were dealt a serious blow in the 16th minute when Neil Taylor suffered a serious injury from a challenge from Sunderland defender Craig Gardner. Swansea fans were absolutely furious at the referee for not punishing Gardner for the challenge. Taylor required prolonged treatment and had to be carried off and given oxygen. The incident seemed to get to fans and players alike and in the 40th minute, Fletcher got his first when he grabbed a horrible back pass from Swans defender Ashley Williams and slotted the finish past the helpless keeper Michel Vorm. Swans did manage to equalize deep into first half stoppage time as Dyer’s gentle chip pass was volleyed home by Routledge. But Sunderland were awarded a free kick right before the half time interval. Sebastian Larsson kick seemed to evade everyone except Fletcher who had been hanging out by the back post. He tapped home the gift and the Black Cats were back in the lead when the half time whistle blew. All credit to Swans boss Michael Laudrup in getting his boys to focus and pick themselves up for the second half. They could have easily rolled over, but they kept pressing and Black Cats’ keeper Mignolet had to save an excellent volley from Dyer and later sigh with relief when a rehearsed corner routine saw Leon Britton volley over the bar. Things got testy later on when Swans defender Chico Flores appeared to make a studs-up challenge on Black Cats midfielder James McClean, leaving the latter in a heap. Boss Martin O’Neill went nuts when the home side refused to put the ball out of play so his player could receive treatment. The equalizer for Swans came in the 66th minute when Michu headed home a Jonathan De Guzman cross past keeper Mignolet. Any hope of Swans grabbing a late win were dashed when Flores was sent off for a wild high-footed challenge at Louis Saha’s head. But even with ten men for the last 18 minutes, Swans continued searching for the winner. So, away goes the 100% record, but it should be noted that Swansea are for real this season and it will not be easy to get any points from them.

Tottenham 1 – 1 Norwich
I think Harry Redknapp is laughing his butt off which ever London golf course he is spending his Saturdays. Andreas Villas-Boas has gotten Spurs off to their worst start in four years. The match seemed to drag at a slow pace for an hour as Spurs could put together any consistent attack and the Canaries spent long periods defending in their own end. There were frustrated consternations from the home fans when Villas-Boas moved the left-footed Gareth Bale to the right of midfield and the right-footed Aaron Lennon to the left of midfield. The resulting play saw Spurs very narrow and unable to break down a stalwart Canary defense. So it went until the 55th minute when Emmanuel Adebayor came on for Gylfi Sigurdsson. Things seemed to pick up a bit as Adebayor was able to hold the ball a bit longer and Spurs got a shot or two on goal. The Canaries should have opened the scoring in the 61st minute when Anthony Pilkington had his shot brilliantly saved by Spurs keeper Brad Friedel. New signing Mousa Dembele, who had come on at half time for an under performing Raniere Sandro, opened the scoring in the 68th minute when he struck form 18 yards out from a Jermain Defoe pass. The home fans expected for Villas-Boas’ boys to go on and notch their first win, and he did try to bolster the midfield by bringing on Tom Huddlestone to replace striker Defoe. But once again, slack defending and really crappy ball control bit Spurs in the butt again in the 84th minute when Jake Livermore conceded a stupid free kick by unnecessarily fouling Steve Morrison. Pilkington took the free kick which Spurs made an absolute mess of in trying to clear their lines. The ball ended up at Robert Snodgrass’ feet and he happily equalized in the bottom right corner of the Spurs’ goal. Things got worse for Spurs in the 88th minute when Huddlestone was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Jonathan Howson. So Spurs have no wins in four matches, the fans are not happy with Villas-Boas, and things are not going will at White Hart Lane. Stop laughing Harry.

West Bromwich Albion 2 – 0 Everton
Is this the same Everton that man-handled Manchester United on the first week of the season? Is this the same bunch that made Aston Villa look so bad at Villa Park last week or easily man-handled Leyton Orient in the Carling Cup on Wednesday? Toffee’s boss David Moyes will not be happy with the way his boys pushed around the Hawthorns stadium ground on Saturday. The first half seemed to start ok for Everton. Midfielder Steven Pienaar was his usual pesky self and nearly opened the scoring in the 4th minute when he forced a fine save out of Baggies keeper Jonas Olsson. The first sign of trouble for Everton came in the 19th minute when Tony Hibbert had to be brought on for an injured Darron Gibson. The Baggies almost took the lead in the 29th minute when striker Shane Long got on the end of a Liam Ridgewell cross from the left and headed against the crossbar. They almost scored again in the 44th minute when midfielder James Morrison managed to get through the Toffees defense and was one-on-one versus keeper Tim Howard. But Howard was able to block the hard shot to keep the score level at the half time break. Marouane Fellaini should have put Everton in the lead at the 55th minute after captain Phil Neville headed a poor clearance from Baggie defender Liam Ridgewell back into the box. The Belgian striker made a great turn to create the chance, but his shot went across the face of the goal. In the 60th minute, Fellaini made a worse miss when he latched on to a low cross from substitute Kevin Mirallas and promptly put his side-footed shot over the bar. That’s when the Baggies took the match in hand and opened the scoring in the 65th minute. Ridgewell get Peter Odemwingie going in space on the left of midfield. Odemwingie picked out Shane Long who beat defender Sylvain Distin to the low cross and Long was able to get it past Howard. Gareth McAuley secured the win in the 82nd minute when his glancing header from Chris Brunt’s corner kick left keeper Howard grasping for air.

Wigan 2 – 2 Stoke
Peter Crouch saves a point for Stoke as they visit Wigan at the DW Stadium on Saturday. The Latics got the lead in the fifth minute when Potters’ defender Robert Huth has penalized for handing in the box. Shaun Maloney coolly finished the spot kick. But in the 40th minute, the Latics conceded their own penalty kick when Mayor Figueroa was penalized for hand-ball and Jonathan Walters equalized. The Latics went back into the lead in the 49th minute. Franco Di Santo grabbed the clearance and sent Arouna Kone on his way. Kone went brilliantly up the field with the ball and managed to elude the Potters’ defenders. He was able to hold the ball in the Stoke area until Di Santo arrived, made a fine square pass, and the latter expertly put the home side back in the lead. That should have been that, but Cameron Jerome, who had come on for Michael Kightly, was able to get a pass over to Walters. Walters then crossed in from the left and Crouch was able to nod home the equalizer. Stoke should have won it, when Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi saved Gary Caldwell’s deflected free kick at the match end.

Manchester City 3 – 1 Queens Park Rangers
The BPL Champions grind out a win at the Etihad on Saturday. Yaya Toure gave Citeh the lead in the 16th minute. He grabbed Carlos Tevez’s rebounded shot and turned it in with a half volley. The Champions dominated the first half and it looked like QPR boss Mark Hughes would experience another spanking at the hands of his old team. Samir Nasri came the closest to making the second goal when his close range shot was parried by keeper Robert Green. The second half saw QPR improve a bit and striker Bobby Zamora got an equalizer in the 59th minute when picked up the scraps from a scramble in the Citeh penalty area. But things did not stay equal for long. In fact Citeh attacked directly from the kickoff and Tevez, after brilliantly keeping the ball in play, made a fine cross to Edin Dzeko, who wasn’t properly picked up by the QPR defense, who headed Citeh back into the lead in the 61st minute. That should have been that, but QPR refused to give in. Defender Ryan Nelsen’s volley narrowly went wide of the Citeh goal. Nelsen had another chance to score when Esteban Granero whipped in a great free kick that Nelsen nearly was able to touch into the Citeh goal. The nerves of the Champions were jangling a bit until the points were wrapped in injury time (we’re going to call this Mancini time). Tevez, who had just moved back into an onside position deflected home Dzeko’s shot and that was that. So the Champions remain unbeaten and are two points off the top off idle leaders Chelsea.

Liverpool 0 – 2 Arsenal
The Gunners travel to Anfield and end their goal scoring drought in emphatic fashion on Sunday. It was the 99th anniversary of Liverpool Legend Bill Shankly and the Reds celebrated by equaling the record of the 1962-63 side. That side had collected just one point from each of their three opening matches. The Gunners have not lost at Anfield in the last five matches and went into the lead when Lucas Podolski beat keeper Pepe Reina in the 31st minute. It was Podolski’s first goal in an Arsenal uniform and he made a fine run into the Liverpool area after he was sent on his way by Santi Cazorla. His finish was a clinical strike that went under Reina and into the net. A few minutes later, Red fans were sure that Raheem Sterling had earned them a penalty kick when he latched on to a Luis Suarez pass and zoomed in on goal. Gunner defender Per Mertesacker got his tackle in and just did manage to knock the ball away. Although Sterling did go down, replays showed that Mertersacker did not bring him down. The closest Liverpool came would to equalizing was when Luiz Suarez’s shot on goal in the second half was parried over the bar by replacement keeper Vito Mannone. The Gunners secured the win in the 68th minute when Santi Cazorla’s shot rebounded off keeper Reina and underneath into the net. As the match wound down, the Arsenal fans were chanting: “Sacked in the morning, you will be sacked in the morning” at Liverpool boss Brenden Rogers. I wonder if the same was chanted at Shankly when he first started.

Newcastle 1 – 1 Aston Villa
Paul Lambert and the Villains grab their point of the BPL campaign at Saint James’ Park. Starting Villain keeper Shay Given was dropped in favor of American Brad Guzan. The Magpies must have figured the Villains would be easy pickings, but the first half saw Villa put up a great fight. In fact, they went in front in the 22nd minute when an unmarked Ciaran Clark headed in Barry Bannan’s cross. Guzan made a good accounting for himself in the Villa goal and made a brilliant save off the line from Papiss Cisse. Magpie boss Alan Pardew changed the formation to a 4-3-3 to get some more attacking in on goal. The result made the home side more dangerous in attacking the Villains goal. It was a moment of shear brilliance from Hatem Ben Arfa that got Newcastle. He seized onto a loose ball, eluded the Villa defenders and hit a 20 yard wonder strike to keeper Guzan’s left. However, Guzan made a bid to remain the starting Villain keeper when he got to Yohan Cabaye’s free kick attempt that was headed for the upper left corner of the Villain net.

Southampton 2 – 3 Manchester United
What a way to celebrate 1000 league matches in charge at Manchester United! Robin van Persie grabs a hat-trick and the Red Devils steal three points from the Saints at Saint Mary’s stadium on Sunday. It started out a bit slow as United, without injured striker Wayne Rooney, tried to find some way to cope with the loss. There was a bit of eyebrow raising when Alex Ferguson started Anders Lindegaard in goal in place of David de Gea. Rio Ferdinand was back from injury to partner with Nemanja Vidic and so the Red Devils defense seemed to be safe. Things seemed to get better for United when Van Persie almost opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a volley that went just wide of the Saints’ goal. But Southampton have shown so far that they are not easily intimidated and in the 16th minute striker Rickie Lambert out jumped United right back Rafael to head home the opening goal. United midfielder Shinji Kagawa nearly got the equalizer a bit later as his 20 yard shot on goal was parried past the post by Saints keeper Kelvin Davis. But in the 23rd minute Van Persie leveled the score with his first when midfielder Antonio Valencia crossed from the right and Nathaniel Clyne’s slip allowed the ball to land and the striker’s feet. He took one touch to gain control and slammed the shot home past the sprawling Saints’ keeper Kelvin Davis. That should have kicked the Red Devils into gear. They came close several times with efforts from Van Persie and Kagawa, but they kept giving the ball away and making defensive mistakes at the wrong time. One of those times was the 55th minute when United defender Patrice Evra slipped and fell, allowing Morgan Schneiderlin to easily head the Saints back into the lead. They had several chances to put the match beyond the visitor’s reach. Rafael cleared away a Lambert effort. Rio Ferdinand blocked James Ward-Prowse’s attempt and Ferguson had seen enough. He brought on Paul Scholes for Kagawa and Luis Nani for Tom Cleverley. As soon as he came on, Scholes changed the match for United. He made a wonderful chance for Van Persie who fired his shot straight at Saints keeper Davis from a tight angle. United should have had the equalizer in the 68th minute when Van Persie was fouled in the Saints penalty area. He stepped up to take the kick and tried to wrong foot keeper Davis and roll it into the opposite corner. Davis easily saved the weak effort and it looked like the Saints were going to get their first BPL win at the expense of the Red Devils. But Van Persie did get the equalizer in the 87th minute when Ferdinand’s header came off the post and RVP directed the rebound home. Van Persie completed his hat-trick in stoppage time when Nani made a fine move in from the left, crossed to the Dutchman who nodded the effort home. A bit of trivia for United Supporters: Dutch Legendary Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his first home debut goal versus Fulham. He scored his first hat-trick versus Southampton. Robin van Persie scored his first home debut goal last week versus Fulham. Can RVP out do the legend of Ruud?

Weekly Transfer Update-Deadline Day!

Posted by Adam Uthe on September 1, 2012 at 12:44 am Breaking News, England, EPL, Europe, GFT Special, Global Football Today, Global Headlines

Sep 012012

Note: All terms are reported. Also, not all of these deals came on the deadline day. Many (such as Luka Modric) come from as far back as Monday. I ordered them in terms of player profile rather than chronology.

Luka Modric

The deal everyone saw coming: Luka Modric transfers from Tottenham to Real Madrid for 33 million Pounds ($52.2 million). He signed a five year deal.

Clint Dempsey

It came down to the wire but in the end the American forward got his wish and moves on to Tottenham Hotspur.

Nicklas Bendtner

The, shall we say, polarizing Danish striker will join Juventus for a season long loan from Arsenal.

Hugo Lloris

The French goalkeeper completed a deadline move to Tottenham for 10 million Euros ($15.9 million). He’ll be expected to compete with American veteran Brad Friedel for the starting spot.

Javi Martinez

The Athletic Bilbao midfielder joins Bayern Munich for the next five years for a reported Bundesliga record fee of 40 million Euros ($50 million).

Julio Cesar

The Brazilian goalkeeper completed a move to Queens Park Rangers. Much more to come from the London side!

Rafael van der Vaart

The Tottenham midfielder completed a three year move to Hamburg SV in Germany on Deadline Day.

Maicon

The Brazilian defender moves from Inter Milan to Manchester City for 3 million Pounds ($4.75 million). Not so long ago you could’ve added a zero to that figure and it would not have shocked anyone.

Nigel de Jong

The fierce Dutch midfielder moves from Manchester City to AC Milan for three years.

Gregory van der Wiel

The Ajax fullback joins Paris-Saint Germain for a “meager” 4.5 million Pounds ($7.1 million). PSG made headlines earlier this summer for signing the likes of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Thiago Silva.

Ibrahim Afellay

The Dutch winger joins Schalke from Barcelona on a season long loan. Afellay will not have to worry about missing any Champions League action as the German side qualified for the group stage as well.

Bojan Krkic

After spending last season on loan with Roma, Krkic moves to AC Milan from the Italian capital on a season long loan.

Javi Garcia

The Benfica midfielder completed a deadline move to Manchester City for 16 million Pounds ($25.4 million).

Javier Saviola

Another Benfica player was on the move this week as the Argentine striker completed a move to Malaga in Spain. Malaga qualified for the group stages of the Champions League after a massive spending spree last summer that may or may not have come back to haunt them.

Alberto Gilardino

Once a desirable transfer target for all of Europe, the Italian forward seems to be waning in terms of performance. He completed a low profile move from Bologna to Genoa.

Alessandro del Piero

And speaking of Italian strikers, the legendary Juventus captain has completed a move to, of all places, Sydney FC in the Australian A-League. Del Piero had long been a target of the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.

Granero

The out of favor Real Madrid midfielder moved to Queens Park Rangers and signed a four year deal.

Giovanni dos Santos

The Mexican international completed a move from Tottenham to Real Mallorca for four years. Dos Santos never could find a regular spot in the First XI under former manager Harry Redknapp.

Andy Carroll

The English striker will join West Ham United on a season long loan from Liverpool. The Hammers failed to convince Carroll to join them permanently after making a club record bid for him several weeks earlier.

Jermaine Defoe

The English striker signed a new three year deal to remain at White Hart Lane with Tottenham.

Dimitar Berbatov

The moody Bulgarian forward completed a deadline move from Manchester United to Fulham after many reports that he was headed to Italy with either Fiorentina or Juventus.

Michael Essien

The Ghanaian midfielder will join Real Madrid on loan from Chelsea. Essien has struggled ever since returning from a horrific knee injury several seasons ago.

Alvaro Pereira

The Porto left sided player completed a four year move to Inter Milan this week.

Moussa Dembele

Fulham sold another up and coming star across London as Dembele joins Clint Dempsey at Tottenham for a 15 million Pound ($23.8 million) fee.

Simon Poulsen

The Danish defender signed a three year deal with Sampdoria after his current deal with AZ Alkmaar expired this summer.

Stephane Sessegnon

The Benin international signed a new deal to remain at Sunderland this week after much speculation throughout the summer that he was headed for a high profile move.

Gaston Ramirez

The Uruguay international was highly sought after all summer long by many high profile clubs, but he ultimately signed with English Premier League newcomers Southampton for a fee of approximately 12 million Pounds ($19 million). That would be by far the highest fee ever paid by Southampton.

Stephane M’Bia

The Cameroon international moved from Marseille to Queens Park Rangers.

Joey Barton

And while it wasn’t a swap deal, the QPR midfielder completed a season long loan to Marseille.

Danny Rose

The Tottenham starlet who played well for Team Great Britain at the London Olympics will join Sunderland for the 2012/13 season.

M’Baye Niang

The 17 year old French striker joins AC Milan from Caen on a three year deal.

Petr Jiracek

The Czech midfielder signs a four year deal with Hamburg after departing Wolfsburg.

Matija Nastajic

The Fiorentina center back will join Manchester City in exchange for 12 million Pounds ($19 million) plus defender Stefan Savic.

Park Chou Young

After being signed by Arsenal last summer, the Korean striker will join Spain’s Celta Vigo on loan for the upcoming season.

Scott Sinclair

The Swansea City winger joins Manchester City for an undisclosed fee on a long term deal.

Pablo Hernandez

Swansea did, however, bring in Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez on a three year deal for 5.5 million Euros ($6.9 million) in order to replace the departing Sinclair.

Ryan Babel

The Dutch winger came to a mutual decision with Hoffenheim to terminate his contract and then proceeded to sign a one year deal with Ajax.

Kieran Richardson

The Sunderland standout joins Fulham on a three year deal with an option for a fourth.

Ahmed El Mohamady

Another Sunderland player on the move, but this was just a season long loan to Hull City. El Mohamady joined the Black Cats last summer.

Charlie Adam

The Scottish master of the “Hollywood Pass” will leave Liverpool and join Stoke City for 4 million Pounds ($6.3 million).

Jay Spearing

Liverpool also chose to loan out their young central midfielder to Bolton for the upcoming season.

Samed Yesil

And in a rather underwhelming move, Liverpool signed Bayer Leverkusen/Germany U-18 standout Samed Yesil.

Carlos Bocanegra

The American defender will leave Rangers and joins Spanish second division side Racing Santandor.

Maurice Edu

Another American departs fallen Scottish giants Rangers. Edu completed a move to Stoke City early in the week.

Zeki Fyers

The Manchester United/England youth defender signed a two year deal with Standard Liege in Belgium.

Thorgan Hazard

Just weeks after being signed, the younger brother of Chelsea star Eden Hazard has been loaned out to Belgium’s Zelte Waregam by the Blues.

Maya Yushida

The Japanese center back signed a three year deal with Southampton.

Richard Wright

The (at times) comically bad goalkeeper signed with Manchester City on a free move.

Bakary Sako

The St. Etienne midfielder completed a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves were relegated to the Championship this past season.

Steed Malbranque

The Lyon midfielder signed a new deal to remain with the French giants.

Fabian Monzon

Lyon also beefed up its defense with the signing of Nice left back Fabian Monzon.

Razak Boukari

The 25 year old Rennes winger joins Wolverhampton on a four year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Jordan Bowery

The former Chesterfield striker signed a three year deal with Aston Villa.

Bryan Oviedo

The Costa Rica international signed with Everton in a deadline deal.

Theo Janssen

The midfielder has come full circle and signed a three year deal with Vitesse Arnhem after leaving Vitesse to play for Ajax.

Damien Perquis

The Sochaux defender signs a three year deal with Real Betis with an option for a fourth.

Massimo Volta

The Sampdoria defender will join Levante on loan for the 2012-13 campaign.

Federico Casarini

The Bologna midfielder will play on loan with Cagliari for the upcoming season.

Mo Bangura

The Celtic/Sierra Leone striker will play for his former club AIK Stockholm on loan until January.

Domingo Cisma

The left back completes a free move to Atletico Madrid from Racing Santandor.

Michael Ciani

The former Bordeaux defender signed a deal with Lazio in Italy.

Michael Rensing

The former Cologne goalkeeper signed a one year deal with Bayer Leverkusen.

Mark Bunn

The Blackburn goalkeeper signed a two year deal with Norwich City where he will be expected to back up John Ruddy.

Mohammed Abu

The Manchester City/Ghana midfielder will join Spain’s Rayo Vallecano on loan this season. Abu is just 20 years of age.

Anestis Argyriou

The 24 year old Greek defender was released by AEK Athens and signed a two year deal with Rangers.

Dane Richards

Just seven games after being traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps, MLS/Jamaica winger Dane Richards found out he will join Burnley during the January transfer window on a free move after his current deal with MLS expired.

Marco Pappa

Originally believed to be leaving in January, it came as quite a shock when it was announced the Chicago Fire midfielder will immediately join Heerenveen in Holland.

Phew! Glad that’s over with! See you again in January!

Jammy At the Hawthorns!

Posted by GFT Editor on August 16, 2011 at 2:51 am Uncategorized

Aug 162011

West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Manchester United

Having looked like a carefully synchronized watch in the second half of their Community Shield duel with Manchester City, the Red Devils looked to be back to their usual stuttering start-of-season habits against a game West Bromwich Albion. Jammy to say the least, United rode their luck in Brum. After sustaining a number of injuries during the game, one prays that they can cope against an as-yet-untried Spurs team and an Arsenal which is surely bound to take on the mentality of a wounded animal at Old Trafford. Fasten your seatbelts United fans, it’s going to be a bumpy start!!!

Yes, a tight one at the Hawthorns as the Baggies, particularly, their quck, burly winger, Somen Tchoyi, gave the reigning champions Manchester United all the the hustle they could handle. With new goalie David de Gea still playing timidly, only a late own goal forced by the brilliance of United winger Ashley Young allowed the Spaniard to once again dodge a bullet after allowing a soft goal by West Brom’s new Irish striker Shane Long to tie the match. In truth, United, who had dominated for much of the first half, seemed devoid of bright ideas in the second half, had a lucky day.

United were in total control for the first half hour. Thirteen minutes in, the ever industrious England striker linked with up with Fabio and Young before shifting speeds enough to stop and turn inside the area before firing low past Ben Foster. With United’s attacking midfield line of Nani, Cleverley and Young running rampant, it looked like the Baggies were going to get hammered.

But in the 37th minute, United went into shock when Albion’s new striker Shane Long equalised in his debut as his tame effort crept under the body of the diving De Gea. Constantly caught on the back foot in the second half, especially by the clever jinking right wing runs of Tchoyi, United were further threatened when both center backs, Nemanja Viidic and Rio Ferdinand, were forced out of the game by injuries.

It was only late in the game, after a tired Welbeck was substituted for Dimitar Berbatov, that United pulled themselves together. 81 minutes in, United grabbed the winner when Young’s cross from the left took a deflection off Steven Reid and beat ex-United goalkeeper Ben Foster, who seemed barely more competent than De Gea.

With upcoming matches against Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester City, a wounded but victorious United can look forward to some relentless testing. Will Sir Alex Ferguson hope it’s third time lucky for De Gea or allow Anders Lindegaard to start? In spite of the hysteria of the press in general and the dour United haters at the Daily Express in particular, it is not yet time to even think about pressing the panic button.

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