Wales win the Grand Slam
Their 29-12 victory gave Wales their second Grand Slam in four years. Wales had too much for France in the last twenty minutes, scoring two tries. England should have tried harder to recruit Shaun Edwards (defence coach) -Wales conceded only two tries in the entire tournament. England's win earlier in the day meant they finished as runners-up on points difference. Prior to that game I had thought dropping Jonny was a mistake. However his replacement, Cipriani, played brilliantly at fly-half, converting all seven goal kicks (3 convs, 4 pens)
Prem title race
Four consecutive draws, & despite losing only once this season, Arsenal have lost top spot. (Under the old system of two points for a win Arsenal would be two points clear). Just like in the 2002-2003 season, Arsenal seem to choking at the run-in, to hand the initiative to Man United. They did play a fantastic game to eliminate Milan from UCL though. Who would have thought the Rossoneri would be outpassed & outplayed in their own stadium ?
Chelsea are still only three points behind, the title race is still far too close to call.
The Hayemaker
As I predicted in my last blog, David Haye knocked out Enzo Maccarinelli last Saturday. Haye will move up to heavyweight, as he's been struggling to make the cruiserweight limit. The heavy
division does not have any exceptional boxers at the moment, but Haye, as a natural cruiser, may struggle against some of the bigger guys.
Showing posts with label Arsenal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arsenal. Show all posts
Monday, 17 March 2008
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Big Four back on form
Premiership round-up:
Arsenal eventually sneaked a 1-0 win over a dogged Man City. Arsenal have been guilty in the past of over-passing.They still show signs of suffering from it this season, going for the extra pass & trying to walk the ball into the net, when a shot on a goal or even (shock horror) a punt into the box might be a better option.
So Chelsea are back on top, and will surely will be difficult to dislodge. Man United's first win, over Spurs, showed how talk of a crisis after 3 games was a nonsense. They found themselves in 19th place on Saturday, but with most teams having played a game more, and the three points from Sunday lifted them to 10th.
Liverpool's strength of squad looks formidable, they have quality in depth, especially in midfield & the strikers.
Time for my relegation tips. I think all the newly-promoted teams will go straight back down. Derby look doomed after losing their home 'six-pointer' with Birmingham, but the Brummie Blues will join them in the Champioship next year. Sunderland, despite Keano's motivating powers, do not appear to have enough quality in their squad either.
I had been quite excited by the prospect of Five's live Serie A coverage (Sundays from 1.30). The first of this new series aired on Sunday (Aug 27). They made much in the build-up of how Serie A, historically famed for its mean defences, last season actually had more total goals scored than any of the other big Euro leagues (Prem, La Liga, Bundesliga or Le Championnat). The televised game was the champs, Inter, at home to Udinese. In the event the games was a rather lacklustre 1-1 draw. However, Inter had some key players, like Crespo & Viera, out injured. If they had played, maybe it would have been a better spectacle. If I'm allowed to make a sexist comment, the studio coverage did have the attraction of the beautiful co-presenter, Laura Esposto, though.
Arsenal eventually sneaked a 1-0 win over a dogged Man City. Arsenal have been guilty in the past of over-passing.They still show signs of suffering from it this season, going for the extra pass & trying to walk the ball into the net, when a shot on a goal or even (shock horror) a punt into the box might be a better option.
So Chelsea are back on top, and will surely will be difficult to dislodge. Man United's first win, over Spurs, showed how talk of a crisis after 3 games was a nonsense. They found themselves in 19th place on Saturday, but with most teams having played a game more, and the three points from Sunday lifted them to 10th.
Liverpool's strength of squad looks formidable, they have quality in depth, especially in midfield & the strikers.
Time for my relegation tips. I think all the newly-promoted teams will go straight back down. Derby look doomed after losing their home 'six-pointer' with Birmingham, but the Brummie Blues will join them in the Champioship next year. Sunderland, despite Keano's motivating powers, do not appear to have enough quality in their squad either.
I had been quite excited by the prospect of Five's live Serie A coverage (Sundays from 1.30). The first of this new series aired on Sunday (Aug 27). They made much in the build-up of how Serie A, historically famed for its mean defences, last season actually had more total goals scored than any of the other big Euro leagues (Prem, La Liga, Bundesliga or Le Championnat). The televised game was the champs, Inter, at home to Udinese. In the event the games was a rather lacklustre 1-1 draw. However, Inter had some key players, like Crespo & Viera, out injured. If they had played, maybe it would have been a better spectacle. If I'm allowed to make a sexist comment, the studio coverage did have the attraction of the beautiful co-presenter, Laura Esposto, though.
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