Manchester City 0, Dynamo Kiev 0 (Agg: 3-1): Kompany injury blow overshadows Champions League progress March 15, 2016 Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini concedes that his side’s progression to a first-ever Champions League quarter-final has been overshadowed by skipper Vincent Kompany suffering a recurrence of a calf injury. City had lost both of their previous round of 16 ties in Europe’s elite club competition although it was Kompany’s injury nightmare which proved the biggest talking [...]
“I built the club”: Wenger issues staunch defence of Arsenal record as Barcelona lie in wait March 15, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger issued a staunch defence of his 20-year reign at the club as his side prepare for their daunting Champions League last-16 second leg against defending champions Barcelona at Camp Nou. The Gunners’ season is in meltdown after the one-time Premier League title favourites won just four of 12 matches to slip [...]
Arsenal without Arsene Wenger is hard to imagine and I don’t like saying it but the Gunners have gone stale. Now Frenchman has four games to save the Gunners’ season – and his job March 15, 2016 Their team had just followed an odds-defying qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League by going top of the Premier League, so Arsenal fans had more cause than most to celebrate over the Christmas period. They must have started to believe that this was indeed their year. And there is no question that [...]
Champions League: Why the final score is not the only metric of success for Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern and Juventus in the Champions League March 15, 2016 When the elite of Europe face off in the Champions League this week, fans and pundits are likely to judge a team's success purely in terms of the score and other common stats relating to performance. Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger's team building abilities will be exclusively discussed in terms of their squad's showings on [...]
Leicester City 1, Newcastle United 0: Foxes’ title bandwagon keeps rolling March 14, 2016 Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri continued to shield his players from the glare of expectancy despite the Foxes re-asserting their authority at the Premier League summit with a narrow victory over Newcastle. Striker Shinji Okazaki scored the only goal of the game with a stunning overhead kick — the home side’s solitary shot on target — [...]
Aston Villa 0, Tottenham Hotspur 2: Pochettino turns up heat on leaders Leicester March 13, 2016 Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino threw down the gauntlet to Premier League title rivals Leicester after his side closed the gap on the leaders by dispatching bottom of the table Aston Villa. Prolific hitman Harry Kane netted twice to take his Premier League tally for the season to 19 and move level with Leicester’s Jamie Vardy [...]
Arsenal 1, Watford 2: Arsene Wenger fears for home form after Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura dump Gunners out of FA Cup March 13, 2016 Arsenal 1, Watford 2 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits he is worried by his faltering team’s home form after Watford sent the FA Cup holders crashing out of the quarter-finals. Substitute Danny Welbeck gave the Gunners hope with a late strike, after Odion Oghalo and Adlene Guedioura had given the Hornets a shock lead, but [...]
These two graphs sum up why Manchester City have failed to mount a serious Premier League title challenge March 12, 2016 Manchester City missed out on the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal in the Premier League table on Saturday, after once again failing to record a back-to-back win at Norwich. Following a goalless draw at Carrow Road, Manuel Pellegrini's side has now failed to win in consecutive league matches since October – a run of 21 games. [...]
Stan Kroenke lifts lid on why Arsenal prioritise business foundations over spending big on transfers March 12, 2016 Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has lifted the lid on his approach to ownership – but risked invoking the wrath of fans by claiming "if you want to win Championships then you would never get involved". The American real estate magnate discussed his belief in prioritising the building of a sports team's business foundations in [...]
Why don’t Manchester United have a women’s team? It’s a business no-brainer for Ed Woodward and the Glazers March 11, 2016 An Official Digital Transformation Partner, an Official Paint Provider, an Official Global Noodle Partner… the list goes on. Manchester United’s commercial team are experts at milking cash from the club’s global reach and appeal. It seems that everything and anything that can be sponsored at Old Trafford already is, yet still United continue to unveil [...]