Gunner’s planner since 96… Arsene Wenger.

Arsène Wenger was born on 22 October 1949  in Strasbourg and grew up in the nearby village of Duttlenheim with an older sister and brother. His parents owned an automobile spare-parts business in Strasbourg. He played as a defender for various amateur clubs while studying at theUniversity, where he completed a master’s degree in 1971. But soon after  In 1981, he obtained a manager’s diploma and was appointed the coach of the Strasbourg’s youth team.

 

 It was Bruce Rioch’s sacking in August 1996 that led to his arrival ay Highbury. And for former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier, the then technical director of the French Football Federation, recommended Wenger to in the summer of 1996. 

He is the most successful manager in the history of Arsenal in terms of trophies and is also the club’s longest-serving manager. Wenger is the only non-British manager to win the Double in England, having done so in 1998 and 2002. In 2004, he became the only manager in FA Premier League history to go through the entire season without defeat. 

Wenger is widely regarded as one of the world’s best managers after the success he has enjoyed at AS Monaco and Arsenal. It was in his time great players like Fredrik Ljungberg, Thierry Henry , Robert Pirès, Patrick Vieira and Rémi Garde entered the gunners brigade to become one of the most sucessful team in Europe. The best thing about Wenger is the selection of players. He picks up players from many unexplored part of the world( in terms of football) and make them the headliners everywhere. 

His honours at Arsenal includes League championship 1998, 2002, 2004, FA Cup winners 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, Voted ‘Manager of the Year’ 1998, 2002, 2004 more cheer for us is that Wenger signed a three year extension to his current contract, taking his tenure at the Club to June 2011.

Injuries and fatigue factor may spoil the world cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson was fuming over England’ manager Fabio Capello for makingWayne Rooney play for 90 minutes in the friendly over Egypt as a result he was over exerted and could not play the subsequent league match. Recently Franck Ribery was caught in a similar situation when he was reported to aggravated an existing problem by playing with an ankle injury in France’s friendly against Spain. Bayern’s management was reportedly to be furious over the matter and has complained to FIFA over the same.

 

In this ever going was between club and country the players will suffer and in the
end the fatigue may be visible in the World Cup. Nobody wants that but the we
are heading into that direction.

Given an example, in cricket last year when most of the players were playing in the
Indian Premier League (a cricket venture by the Indian Cricket Board) in
different clubs on the lines of football leagues they gave their best and the
tournament went with the same hopes in the T20 World Cup which was to be followed
in june in England. The things went in the wrong direction where defending
champion India bowed out of the tournament in the quarter finals which nobody
expected. The post defeat analysis showed the fatigue factor in the team
and also the carry forward injuries which they suffered during the IPL.
Pakistan on the other hand won the tournament because they were not allowed
to play in the IPL and concentrated fully on the World Cup.

Coming back to football, if more casualties follow the World Cup in South Africa can be a problem which may result to a flop show. Many in Europe thinks the World Cup is now second to club football because all the money and fame is in Champions League and top domestic league were they reside.

In the end I hope that the above is proved wrong and the country’s spirit remains at
the top. A win by a new country, Asian or an African nation will definitely
impact and change the thinking for the future.

Ferdinand and Vidic return as United host Hammers.

After their shock defeat at Goodison Park, Manchester United will be back to Old Trafford and will be hosting West Ham United for a crucial match and a chance to narrow the lead to one point for the current leaders Chelsea. For the fact of the matter, this match was postponed due to snowfall and the league cup and finally a date was decided for the same on 23rd February.

 

Good news for the red devils is that Rio Ferdinand will be available after successfully completing his four match ban which happened due to violent conduct against Hull City. The other defender Namanja Vidic is also expected to start as he is fast recovering from the calf injury. The Serbian was on the bench for the match against Everton. It was visible that Unitedmissed Ryan Giggs on the wing. He is still out due to the arm injury. The Hammers remain just four points off the relegation zone, but their back to back wins over Birmingham City and Hull City have boosted confidence in Gianfranco Zola‘s squad. Nevertheless, they have struggled on their away fixtures this season, winning just one of 13 away games which is a huge cause of concern for the Hammers and the old Trafford tradition go against their wish to turn the tables.

 

With title for one and relegation scare for another at stake this will be an exciting contest to see who win. The odds favourManchester United, last time when they met at Opton Park the visitors thrashed them with four goals. Alan Wiley will be the referee for the night. He has handed 4 red cards 28 games overall and none for United.

The match will be starting at 2000 Hours GMT (i.e. 0130 Hours IST). Don’t miss the all important match.

Chelsea looses, United draws, Gunners wins. The table remains the same…

Unable to take advantage of their rivals loss, Manchester Unitedremained at second place with their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.Chelsea’s fared worse when they
lost against mighty Everton by 1-2, it was former Man United playerLouis Saha
getting the double for Everton. Arsenal finally got into winning ways after
defeating Liverpool with 1-0.

 

 Villa took the lead in the 19^th minute when Stewart Downing’s right-wing
cross was not fully cleared by Rafael as a result the ball dropped to Spanish
defender Carlos Cuellar whose curling header made the ball go into the far
corner. But just 4 minutes later United levelled through an own goal
when Ryan Giggs’ volleyed cross was turned into his own net by Villa defender
James Collins.

Despite the draw what will be concerning Sir Alex will be that their veteran winger Ryan Giggs will be out for at least 4 weeks after fracturing his arm following his clash with Steve Sidwell in the 74^th minute. He is likely to
miss the the champions league match against AC Milan and the crucial Carling
cup final at Wembley on the 28^th of this month.

 At the same time at Goodison Park, the leaders got an early lead in the 17^th minute throughMalouda who scored through his left foot before making his way
upto the goal. But then Saha had come into action, he scored the equaliser in
the 36^th min through a corner and after the break he got the winner
in the 74^th minute when A super left-footed half volley from 18 yards flew beyond
Cech.

Arsenal final got their first win in 2 weeks by beating Liverpool by a narrow margin of 1-0 with Abou Diaby’s goal in the
71th minute. The gunners are comfortable at the last champions league automatic
place which is unlikely to go from them

With only one point difference, the league has become more exciting as ever with the last 12 matches to decide the ultimate winner.

 Mid week results were:

Tuesday:

Manchester City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers

Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Stoke City

Fulham 3-0 Burnley

Wednesday

 Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool

Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United

West Ham United 2-0Birmingham City

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Hull City

Everton 2-1Chelsea

Arsenal to face Chelsea, Manchester United to visit Fratton park.

In a crucial match for both the teams, one fighting for survival and the other for the top spot, Portsmouth will be hosting Manchester United at Fratton park on Sunday. It is an important match for the red devils but it will be even more important for the team which is badly in need for points and as the experts says it is unlikely that they will achieve this mission.
News from the locker room is that Manchester United will be out in full force for the match against the port club and will be forcing a big win to boost up their confidence.Owen Hargreaves is recovering fast but is unlikely to start even the bench remains unlikely for him. From Portsmouth, the team under Avram Grant will be hoping to show up a good performance against the red devils which may bring some temporary relief but a huge boost of confidence.

The big match this weekend will be Chelsea Vs Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and the most keen watchers of that match will be Manchester United who would be hoping that Chelsea looses but that will be making things complex as the Gunners will then close in on United.
In yet another big match for the reds, Liverpool will be up against their neighbours Everton in a crucial match.Liverpool who have been knocked out of the champions league will be desperate for a win. Gerrard is expected to play a heavy role so to take his club where it belongs.
The other matches this weekend includes:
Saturday
Blackburn Rovers Vs Stoke City 15:00 Hours
Fulham Vs Bolton Wanderers 15:00 Hours
Manchester City Vs Hull City 15:00 Hours
West Ham United Vs Burnley 15:00 Hours
Wigan Athletic Vs Sunderland 15:00 Hours
Aston Villa Vs Tottenham Hotspur 17:30 Hours

Sunday
Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Birmingham City 12:00 Hours
Everton Vs Liverpool 13:30 Hours
Arsenal Vs Chelsea 16:00 Hours

Manchester United’s chief Mentor: Sir Alex

Minds at work all the time… Sir Alexander Chapman “Alex” Ferguson, the current manager of Manchester united football club, is like a king mentor for the team.He has been here for a long time and we all hope will be here forever, appointed in November 1986 when the club was struggling to win consistently.With 22 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the second-longest serving manager in their history after Sir Matt Busby, while his tenure is the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. Manchester United have won more honours during Ferguson’s tenure than they did in all the years combined prior to his appointment. At Manchester United, Sir Alex has become the most successful domestic manager in the history of English football, having guided the team to eleven league championships and two Champions League titles. In 1999, he became the first manager to lead an English team to the historic treble of league championship, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. As well as being the only manager to win the FA Cup five times, he is also the only manager ever to win three successive league championships in the top flight in England with the same club (1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01), repeating the feat again in 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09. Yet despite all those trophies at United helm he remains focused on increasing that tally, bringing yet more silverware to Old Trafford. The best thing about him is that players came as a rookie but he made them professionals with his great skills of teaching and most importantly build great team strategies. Even when some of the best players left United he still managed to build winning team again, leaving no space for the former players. With many awards he is one of the best coaches this football world has produced.