Premiership 3th/4th April 2021

Well it has been a while since I blogged! however that does not mean I haven't been following the football world. Let me start with Arsenal awful match against Liverpool! this was probably their worst match in a long time! I personally blame the coach Arteta, as soon as a I saw the line up he had put up against Liverpool I knew that it would be a super challenging match!

Arsenal's problem for the last 13 years has been the back 4 pairing! Wenger consistently made the same mistakes and he never seemed to learn from the losses. It seems Arteta has also developed this terrible trait! I went back and reviewed all the back 4 line ups since January 2021 and never once has Arteta played Chambers and Holding together in the back four. 

These two are inexperienced  and are no way ready for this level of football both seemed unsure of their role. Gabriel who has been consistently fantastic had an awful day and was primarily responsible for goal 3. Kieran Tierney who has been consistently excellent for the last three months, went off injured and once Tierney went off the floodgates opened. 

Arsenal midfield and strikeforce had a very poor day and barely had a strike on target, what was especially annoying was that this match was played at the home ground of Arsenal but without any fans. Which quite frankly would probably have made little difference!

Elsewhere Chelsea got hammered 5 2 by West Bromwich which was truly shocking! Chelsea have had a awful season which has really surprised me. A bit like Arsenal they are also in transitional season. This I think has impacted on their season. 

Manchester City  beat Leicester city 2 0 which was another straight forward win for them and this win took them a step closer to winning the premiership title. Manchester City have been very consistent this season and their consistency has paid off.

Manchester United beat   Brighton 2  this was an excellent win for Man U again Marcus Rashford was front and centre of their attacks and without him I really believe they would struggle. This not a very strong team but they have still managed to get the wins when they needed it. 

Tottenham  and Newcastle drew 2 2 this has been a difficult season for Spurs and they are also struggling with consistency and they should be winning games that they are losing or drawing which is also quite surprising. 

Premiership 13th/14th February

 Another weekend of the premiership and this time Arsenal got back to winning ways! Beating Leeds United  by 4 2 and Arsenal really needed this win, we are still stuck in 10th place but it  has also stopped a run of bad results. 

Arsenal where hungry for the win and Saka was my man of the match he played so well and kept the tempo of the game. Towards end of  the game Arsenal started loose concentration and that encouraged Leeds to score two goals but then Arsenal refocused and held on for this vital win.

Elsewhere it has been bad weekend for Liverpool and Tottenham who where on the end of a hammering! Manchester City beat Tottenham 3 goals to win. This was a bit a shock to me as Tottenham started the season well. But like Arsenal they have had a few losses recently and at some point they where even top of the league.

Liverpool also had a shocking loss to Leicester and as Liverpool won the title last year and dominated in the early past of the season their loss of form has been a little surprising. 

Manchester United had a surprising one all draw to West Brom which also was not expected and Man U have been dropping points recently, however as they where real title challengers, their recent loss of form in the premiership might really impact on their chances to win the league as they are now ten points behind Manchester City.  

Chelsea are also back to winning ways and they beat Newcastle by two goals to nil and after a loss of form and a new manager they seems like they too have gone back to their winning ways. 

I think the Covid 19 restrictions is probably having a some impact on teams like Arsenal and Liverpool who fans might motivate them to victory.  Now we are past the half way point of the season and Arsenal some how have to find a way to finish at top five to help them qualify for the European Cup..

Australian Open - so far

 Well I didn’t manage to do my daily blog like I had planned, but what a tournament it has been!it has started of really positive and I was super happy as my personal favourites Venus and Serena Williams and Heather Watson all did really well to reach round two. 

Then both Heather Watson and Venus Williams went out in the first round and that was very disappointing to say the least, however I was still enjoying have Serena Williams and Rafa Nadal in the tournament.

Serena had been doing really well and seemed super fit and was serving well and chasing down incredible balls. Then yesterday she had a semi final match with Naomi Osaka and she started of reasonably well. 

Then all of a sudden her serve started to fail to her and then she started making all these unforced errors. It was all rather painful to watch and across the court their stood Naomi Osaka the younger and fitter version of Serena. 

In my heart in knew it would be a big stretch for Serena to win this tournament. As really and truly age is not on her side at 39, she fitness level is different and as I have watched her for over 20 years I know she cannot be at the top forever I don’t want to stop believing that shed can still win Grand Slams. 

Rafael Nadal was two sets up and ended up losing it in five sets! That too was a super shock but I am also confident that Rafa will come back and do better next time.

So  Naomi Osaka will take on American Jennifer Brady in the final and I wish her well. Naomi is working hard and showing all the traits of a champion.

Australian Open 2021 day 1

 So tennis is back! Serena Williams  played her first match in about 4 months and was  energetic and fit! But as we know with Serena it is all about the mind!

 Yes she got first round out of the way very easily but as we know with Serena the further into the slam she goes  for some reason mentally it becomes a problem.

I would love Serena to win her 24tth slam but time is really not on her side.. COVID-19 has really been a disaster for people and sports men and women. Hopefully will be  tournament that Serena wins her 24 title and the pressure will be off. 

Elsewhere Venus got a really excellent win! I honestly think it’s amazing that Venus has the motivation and stamina to keep going at 40! 

I have wanted Venus to retire for years because I didn’t want her to tarnish her legacy however she keeps proving sceptics like me wrong. 

Naomi Osaka got a very good first round win, I am beginning to like her style of play more.I suppose the day Venus and Serena retire she will be on of  minority players carry on the good work of Venus and  Serena. 

Premership 6th and 7th February

 Another weekend of premiership football and two consecutive losses for Arsenal it looks like the wheels have come of again!

 These losses are making no sense now Arteta is playing the same team consistently and some how we can’t seem to win a game.

Arsenal are definitely set for mid team mediocrity unless something really changes in next few weeks. I am relieved we are no longer hovering around the relegation zone but annoyed that we are not taking our chances.

Elsewhere Manchester United had a weird draw with Everton.. considering they beat Southampton 9 nil to then have 3 all draw to Everton is a little strange.

Wheels also seem to be coming off for Liverpool, last season they won the title and barely lost a match but this season they have been losing a few more matches.

Manchester City seems to be the team this season with a bit more consistency now leading the premiership and five points ahead of Manchester rivals. 

I think this season the title could probably with anyone in the top four unless Manchester City start to pull away. 

Now that we are 23games into the season this what you call the business end of the season and these next few weeks are where titles are won and lost.

Premiership weekend 30/31st January 2021

 This weekend was a big weekend for Arsenal as we played against Manchester United. Now considering our position in the league, I was just hoping that we would not loose badly.

I have to say I was very surprised about how well we played! There where a few scary moments and a fantastic defensive header by Martinelli when Marcus Rashford was poised to score.

We even had a few clear scoring chances which we did not take. But the positives that came out of it was that Arsenal held strong. 

Elsewhere Manchester City had a good win against Sheffield United, Liverpool got a good win against West Ham which keep both Manchester City and Liverpool in the top three.

The shock of the weekend was Tottenham losing by a goal to nil to Brighton. I think wheels as well and truly come of Tottenham title challenge. I could be wrong but they seems to be slipping down the table and they will be joining Arsenal in the mid table table. 

After sacking Frank Lampard, Chelsea have remembered how to score goals but I honestlyI an not impressed with their team this year.. It does seem a little like cobbled together team. 

So the this is the weeks review don’t forget to subscribe to my blog. 

FA Cup

 So last weekend was FA Cup weekend and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t particularly bothered whether Arsenal won or lost. However when they did lose by an own goal to Southampton, I was fuming!

 I finally thought the team had turned a corner and put behind them  these silly losses. So it was a bit of shock see to us giving away silly goals. 

Chelsea had a good solid win against Luton then promptly sacked Frank Lampard which seemed a little insane to me. Arsenal have had a poor start to the season yet Arteta doesn’t seem like he is anywhere close to being sacked.

Man U beat Liverpool and as per usual Marcus Rashford was front and centre of everything.. The wheels seems to coming of a bit for  Liverpool considering how dominant they where last season. They might be struggling the weight of expectation to do well. 

Now Arsenal are out of  the FA Cup I will do my best to still blog about the FA Cup.

Premier league

 Okay we are at the halfway stage of the Premier league and as a Arsenal fan. This season has been truly a wake up call! As a fan for over 30 years I can never remember us being so close to relegation... we are still not totally out of woods!

Obviously Mikel Arteta went for a very young team and I think it has been a very steep learning curve of them. We now conceding less goals but still not particularly prolific up front. 

However saying that I really hope we have turned a corner and we hopefully end up with at least a top ten finish!

Elsewhere Manchester United seems have got their act together now they are top of the league after their draw with Liverpool today.

Which brings to good old Marcus Rashford.. now I literally have no time for Manchester United but I can’t help but be inspired and impressed by Marcus and activism of the pitch. 

I think it’s great especially when tabloid newspapers have enjoyed making footballers look entitled and out of touch so his championing of free school meals has transcended the sport. 

Chelsea and Tottenham look they are also in a for a difficult season. I think especially Chelsea look like they are going to struggle this season.. their serious lack of world class players is something I haven’t seen in a Chelsea team for like 20 years.

Liverpool have become very consistent and I would not be surprised if they won the league again. They clearly have the world class players and excellent team unit and a fantastic manager. 

It is very painful that the Arsenal are probably about 5 years behind Liverpool. Arsenal haven’t  won premier league title in nearly twenty years and realistically without being negative I can’t see another premier title for at least another three to five years. 

But yes this 2020/2021 has finally got my attention and I look forward to blogging more regularly now😁

I'm back!

Even though I haven't blogged for two years I have been following both football and tennis super closely. I having seen Arsenal win two consecutive matches I now thinking this season is not going to be as bad as I thought..

Once Serena announced her pregnancy I kind of lost the motivation to blog but now she is back on the tour I have found my motivation to blog again. However the tennis season is all but over but definitely will be blogging more in 2019:)

FA Cup -11th/12th/13th March 2016

This past weekend was the quarter finals of  the FA Cup and Manchester United drew one all with West Ham. This means that there will be a replay in the next week or so.

Crystal Palace beat Reading by two goals to nil and this was a great win for Crystal Palace especially as they have not done particularly well in the premier league. 

The first surprise result of the weekend was Everton beating Chelsea by two goals to nil. I thought Chelsea would win however Chelsea are having an awful season so I guess it really not that much of a surprise. 

The second surprise of the weekend was Watford beating Arsenal by two goals to one. Arsenal where on track to win the FA cup for the third consecutive year. 

However it was not meant to be and Watford truly deserved this win. Arsenal had on eye on champions league game and it has cost them. This could be year of no trophies after two years of the winning the FA cup. 

Maria Sharapova - meldonium

This week Maria Sharapova confessed that she had failed a drug test and had been use a drug called meldonium for ten years! Yes ten years!

WADA banned the use of drug on January and Maria claims she did not read email sent to her December advising all tennis players that the drug had been banned.

Consequently failed a drug test during the Australian Open. 

What I was most suprised about was Maria's attitude in the press conference where she more concerned about the carpets in the hotel as opposed to shameful admission she has just

 made.

Judging by the pictures I have seen of Maria since this shameful admission she is carry on like nothing has happened and almost give you the impression that she is expecting a light ban and to be playing tennis within a year. 

I hope she is banned for at least two years. She is a role model to million of aspiring tennis and she has just given them that you can do something like that and almost get away with it. 

The full story has yet to come out but I have heard so far disgust me I do not understand why Maria would choose to take a drug that banned in USA after getting it from her family doctor in Russia when she resides in the US. 

Then taking the drug for ten years sounds very excessive and almost like she became dependent on it. As influential figure in tennis world this has made me wonder who else is secretly taking this drug that we are not aware of. 

Hopefully it will start and end with Maria and we get back to focusing on tennis games. 

Premiership - 1st and 2nd March

In the midweek Premiership fixtures Leicester drew one all with West Bromwich Albion in a game that you have had expected them to win. 

Leicester drawing on Tuesday should have given the chasing teams an incentive to capitalise but none of them could.

Tottenham Hotspurs lost one nil to West Ham and if they had won they would have gone joint top with Leicester. 

Arsenal were again humiliated as they lost at home and by two goals to one to Swansea City. 

It another inept Arsenal performance and the defence is the worst Arsenal has had in about ten years. I think Arsenal will struggle to win silverware with that awful defence.

Liverpool hammered Manchester City by three goals to nil and it city chance to close the gap and get back on track and they failed to do so.

So a very eventful evening which has only helped Leicester to get even closer to winning the title. 

Premiership - 27th/28th February

In this weekend Premiership fixtures, Leicester City beat Norwich City in the eighty ninth minute to maintain there position at the top. 

 This was a well needed win for Leicester City and with eleven matches to go they are getting closer to winning there first ever Premiership title.

Tottenham Hotspur had a good two goals to one win against Swansea City which has helped them to maintain breathing space between them and Arsenal.

Manchester United beat Arsenal by three goals to two and it was an embarrassing loss for Arsenal. 

Manchester United put out their junior team and Arsenal could not beat them. Arsenal had their chances but did not take them. 

Arsenal chances of winning the league is slipping away but two good wins and they are back in it. 

Australian Open 2016 - Men's draw

This year winner was fairly predictable to say least! Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in straight sets. This was a match that Andy got soundly beaten the first set but had opportunities to break in the second and third set and he could not take them. 

This is now Novak's eleventh Grand Slam and it's only a couple years ago he only had five Grand Slams. Now he is only six behind Roger Federer to equal the record! 

There where no real surprises in the men's draw other than Rafal Nadal going out in the first round. I think Rafa can still win a couple more Grand Slams but he has to want to break the record to have any chance of winning more Grand Slams. 

Roger Federer did well but he does not have the energy to win Grand Slams in the best of five sets. However he still doing well enough to make to the semi - finals. 

Australian Open 2016 - Women draw review

Well the Australian Open 2016 is now over and the winner of the women's draw   was Angelique Kerber. She beat Serena Williams in three sets. 

It was unexpected result everyone including me thought that Serena would win this in straight sets! But Angelique Kerber had other ideas and her serve and return of serve is what won her the match. 

Angelique's serve was reasonably impressive and her never give up attitude was incredible! Whereas Serena lacked match fitness and found it difficult to stay in points. 

So I believe that Angelique was the rightful winner and Serena lack of matches plus pressure of breaking Steffi Graf's 22 Grand Slams title is making even harder for Serena to concentrate.

Elsewhere in the Women's draw British/Hungarian player Johanna Konta played well and reached the quarters finals and I am sure she has won some tier one titles then she will have a realistic chance of winning a Grand Slam.

Whereas it was another disappointing Australian Open for Heather Watson an as she went out in the first round again. 

I really think for Heather this her make or break year and even for retain her become British number one is going to be a mammoth task. However maybe possible but is really going to require to have a complete change of mindset. 

2nd/3rd January 2016

The new year Premier League fixtures had again some predictable results. Arsenal beat Newcastle by a goal to nil and this was a good win for Arsenal who have started the New Year top of the league! 

Manchester City beat Watford by two goals to one  and this a pretty predictable result and I would have been shocked if Watford had won. 

Manchester United beat Swansea City by two goals to one and this was well needed win for Manchester United who seem to struggling for confidence. 

Liverpool lost by three goals to nil and this  was a bad loss for them. It was looking like they had turned a corner but this result highlighted the serious lack of quality in the team. 

Chelsea got a fantastic win as they beat Crystal Palace three goals to nil and this was much needed win however this win has made little difference in their league as they are still languishing in fourteenth position. 

28th/29th/30th December 2015

The bank holiday fixtures where more predictable than the Boxing Day results. Arsenal got a somewhat predictable win. They beat Bournemouth by two goals to nil. 

This was a good win for Arsenal especially after that humiliating Boxing Day loss and it was good to see that they could recover so quickly. 

Manchester United and Chelsea drew nil nil and this was a surprising scoreline as a year ago this would have been a high scoring game but both teams are lacking in confidence.

Manchester City drew nil nil with Leicester City and both teams have been doing well, however I half expected Manchester City win to that match.

 Liverpool beat Sunderland by a goal to nil and this was a reasonably good win for Liverpool and this may mean that this team are finally gelling together. 

Boxing Day 2015

Wow it been awhile since I blogged but I thought it was quite important to at least start blogging again in the New Year! The Boxing Day was a pretty horrendous start for some teams. 

Arsenal lost four goals to nil to Southampton and it was there worst loss in about eighteen months. I can only speculate that the teams mind was elsewhere which caused them to loose badly. 

Manchester United also had a bad day they lost two nil to Stoke City and for Manchester United they have been experiencing quite a few losses recently and their fans are getting nervous 

now. 

Chelsea drew two all with Watford which was really awful draw for them

As they desparately needs to win games to climb up the table. 

Manchester City did very well and they beat Sunderland by four goals to one. This means are they still in the top four. 

Liverpool also got a good win the best Leicester City by a goal to nil and Liverpool have been struggling and even their new manager I can imagine it will take at least a season before they start getting real results. 

So the Boxing Day match result where somewhat of a shock and I was surprised that both Manchester United and Arsenal got so badly beaten. 

Premier league - 24/25th October 2015

So I haven't blogged for a little while but that does not mean I have not been following the action... First off Arsenal beat Everton by two goals to one and this win helped them to go joint top of the league. 

Arsenal have been playing well recently and Arsene Wenger seems to be using the same players. Now he plays Theo Walcott in a more attacking position than before. 

Manchester City and Manchester United had a nil nil draw which was a little surprising because normally it is a goals thriller. However the draw helped Manchester City to stay top of the league. 

The shock of the weekend was Chelsea losing by two goals to one to West Ham. It is early days but seeing Chelsea down in 15th is very strange but I am sure they will some good wins to see them climb back up the table. 

Premier league - 19/20 September

In this weekend fixitures Chelsea beat Arsenal by two goals to nil in a controversial match that saw two Arsenal players sent off! 

This was defintely a surprise result for me as Chelsea have not being getting the results and so I thought Arsenal would be able to take advantage and get a win against them but it was not meant to be. 

The sending off Gaberial definitely impacted on the game and Arsenal ability to get a goal. However I still think Arsenal defensive frailties will cost them a few matches this season and the realistic chance to win the league. 

Elsewhere Manchester United got a narrow victory against Southampton has they beat them by three goals to two and helped to keep them within two points of leaders Man City. 

Manchester City had an awful weekend as they lost at home to West Ham. West Ham beat them by two goals to one and this ended Manchester City unbeaten run. However they are still top the league by two points. 

Liverpool drew one all to Norwich as there indifferent season continues and I really think Liverpool will struggle this season as they don't see have too many world class players in their team.