Barclays Premier League Thread

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Arsenal announce new Emirates deal

Arsenal have announced a £150 million extension of their sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines.

As part of the new package, Emirates will continue with naming rights on the Gunners' 60.000-seater stadium at Ashburton Grove until 2028.

The £30 million-per-year contract represents a significant increase in additional revenue for the Premier League club.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis believes the move shows the Gunners' intent to "keep at the top of the game in England and Europe".

QPR sack Mark Hughes, set for Redknapp talks

Queens Park Rangers and Harry Redknapp are to begin talks "shortly" after the club fired Mark Hughes as manager.

Hughes has overseen a terrible run of form despite extensive investment in the playing squad this summer and leaves the club with QPR bottom of the table and without a win in their opening 12 games.

Though owner Tony Fernandes repeatedly stated his confidence that Hughes could turn things around, he has taken action on the eve of a Premier League game away at Manchester United.

Betting has already been suspended on Redknapp taking over at Loftus Road, despite the former Tottenham Hotspur manager holding talks with Ukraine about the national job.

The Daily Mail reports that Redknapp will be appointed QPR's new manager imminently and will officially take charge on Sunday.

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Lampard și Ashley Cole pleacă de la Chelsea! Benitez: "Nu am ce să fac"

Fanii lui Chelsea s-au opus numirii lui Rafael Benitez pe banca echipei de pe Stamford Bridge, dar acesta și-ar putea câștiga suporterii de partea sa dacă va reuși să evite plecarea unor veritabile legende ale clubului.

Din câte se pare însă, Benitez nu are niciun cuvânt de spus în ceea ce privește contractele lui Frank Lampard (34 de ani) și Ashely Cole (31 de ani), care expiră vara viitoare. Tehnicianul iberic a declarat pentru jurnaliștii englezi că ar fi putut face niște eforturi în această privință, dar numai dacă angajamentul său ar fi fost mai lung de 7 luni, perioada pe care a semnat cu Roman Abramovic.

Cum la vară Benitez are șanse mici să rămână, el nu își permite să creioneze lotul pentru sezonul viitor, astfel că nu se va implica în prelungirea contractelor celor doi fotbaliști emblematici de pe "Stamford Bridge". Oricum, șansele ca aceștia să continue în capitala Angliei sunt destul de mici, deoarece patronul dorește întinerirea masivă a echipei.

"Cred că cei doi vor pleca, aceasta este situația în acest moment. Dacă aș fi avut siguranța că voi sta aici doi sau trei ani poate aș fi reușit să influențez situația, dar nici asta nu este sigur. Nu am ce să fac în această privință", a declarat Benitez.

Despre Lampard, aflat din 2001 la Chelsea, s-a scris în mai multe rânduri că ar dori să plece de la echipă, pentru a semna cu LA Galaxy, echipa lui David Beckham. Totodată, PSG și Manchester United sunt interesate de serviciile mijlocașului care a bifat 572 meciuri și 189 de goluri pentru campioana Europei.

Ashley Cole a sosit de la Arsenal în anul 2006 și a devenit instantaneu titular de drept pe flancul stâng al defensivei. În șase sezoane, el a jucat 191 de meciuri și a marcat de 7 ori pentru "albaștri". Împreună, Cole și Lampard au aproape 200 de selecții la echipa națională a Angliei.

Rafa Benitez are soluții de înlocuire în lot: tânărul Bertrand poate juca pe postul lui Ashley Cole, iar în linia mediană există soluții ca Oscar, Mata, Marin sau Romeu.

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Premier League - Team of the Week 13


Tremmel (Swansea City)



Johnson (Liverpool) - Kompany (Man City) - Shawcross (Stoke City) - Baines (Everton)



Lallana (Southampton) - Yacob (West Bromwich) - Pablo (Swansea City) - Gomez (Wigan)



Ramirez (Souhampton) - Defoe (Tottenham)

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Wenger nu se dezminte. Arsenal are buget imens, dar nu-i vine să-l cheltuie pe transferuri

Chiar dacă Arsenal a primit de la sponsori 150 de milioane de lire sterline, fanii grupării londoneze nu trebuie să se aștepte la transferuri de senzație, dacă e să ne luăm după declarațiile managerului "tunarilor", Arsene Wenger, care e cunoscut pentru faptul că preferă să ia jucători pe care să îi crească, în loc să cumpere unii deja consacrați.

Ultimul trofeu cucerit de Arsenal este Cupa Angliei, în 2005, cu un an înainte de a juca finala Ligii Campionilor, pierdută cu 2-1 în fața Barcelonei lui Frank Rijkaard.

Managerul "tunarilor" pune accent pe fair-play-ul financiar și spune că Arsenal va apărea pe piața transferurilor doar în cazul în care va considera că jucătorul urmărit merită o atenție maximă. Marea problemă văzută de tehnician este salariul care trebuie plătit unui jucător a cărui sumă de transfer este uriașă.

"Dacă primim atâția bani de la sponsori, nu e caritate, ci fiindcă ei consideră că simt că acționăm în direcția potrivită, cu valorile potrivite și recompensează asta. Apoi, este datoria noastră să cheltuim banii cum trebuie. Sunt, totuși, două aspecte în orice afacere: una este suma de transfer și cealaltă este salariul", a declarat Arsene Wenger, potrivit presei britanice.

"Transferurile acelor tipuri de jucători nu sunt la 30 de milioane de lire sterline astăzi, ci la 50 sau 60 de milioane, iar ce a crescut foarte mult este salariul jucătorilor. De aceea pledează oamenii pentru fair play financiar. Unele cluburi chiar au solicitat ca banii din noile drepturi de televizare nu ar trebui folosite pentru creșterea salariilor, fiindcă asta înseamnă probleme pentru toată lumea", a adăugat tehnicianul.

"Ne uităm doar la calitate"

"Dacă găsim jucători cu adevărat de top, atunci vom fi pe piață. Nu ne-am fixat un număr, ne uităm doar la calitate. Avem o echipă bună, cred că acești jucători au o atitudine fantastică. Merită succesul și îl vor avea", a încheiat Wenger.

Sursa

Ciudata atitudine,daca ii dadeai banii astia lu Mancini in 2 zile erau gata..Personal ma bucur ca procedeaza asa,dar ma bucur si ca nu sunt fan Arsenal,nu cred ca vor castiga trofee asa..

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Newcastle hit by double injury blow

Alan Pardew has confirmed he could be without Steven Taylor and Yohan Cabaye until February.

Central defender Taylor damaged a hamstring during Sunday's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Southampton, while France midfielder Cabaye is expected to undergo a second groin operation in the next 24 hours.

Pardew, whose side travels to Stoke on Wednesday, currently has 11 senior players unavailable to him.

Asked if the news on Taylor was worse than first feared, the manager said: "It probably is. It's about 6 to 8 weeks, we think, so it's another blow. We are in a run of bad luck for us".

On Cabaye, Pardew added: "He's had one side of his groin done and that caused a potential weakness in the other side, so that needs to be done. He will probably be out for 8 weeks".

"We are probably looking at February for both he and Steven, so we might as well get the bad news out of the way, because that's what it is, and just focus on what is important, and that's what we have got left."

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Koscielny out for 3 weeks

Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny faces 3 weeks on the sidelines after injuring his groin in the 1-1 draw at Everton on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old was replaced after just 4 minutes by left-back Kieran Gibbs, and joins Abou Diaby, Lukasz Fabianski, Tomas Rosicky and Andre Santos on the treatment table.

"He has a groin strain. That's usually 3 weeks", Gunners manager Arsene Wenger told reporters.

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Crystal Palace vs Stoke City
Brighton vs Newcastle
Tottenham Hotspur vs Coventry City
Wigan Athletic vs Bournemouth
Fulham vs Blackpool
Aston Villa vs Ipswich Town
Charlton Athletic vs Huddersfield
Barrow/Macclesfield vs Cardiff City
Barnsley vs Burnley
Manchester City vs Watford
Swansea City vs Arsenal
Leicester vs Burton Albion
Millwall vs Preston
Cheltenham Town/Hereford United vs Everton
Derby County vs Tranmere
Crawley vs Reading
Aldershot vs Rotherham/Notts County
Middlesbrough vs Harrogate Town/Hastings United
Accrington/Oxford United vs Sheffield United
Southampton vs Chelsea
QPR vs West Bromwich
Peterborough vs Norwich City
Lincoln City/Mansfield vs Liverpool
Bolton vs Sunderland
Nottingham Forest vs Oldham
West Ham vs Manchester United
Hull City vs Alfreton Town/Leyton Orient
Blackburn Rovers vs Bristol City
Leeds United vs Birmingham City
Bury/Southend vs Bradford/Brentford
Luton vs Wolverhampton
Sheffield Wednesday vs MK Dons

Ties to be played over the weekend of 5/6 January 2013.

[beavis]

Premier League - Team of the Week 14


Guzan (Aston Villa)



Rafael (Man United) - Evans (Man United) - Shaw (Southampton) - Baines (Everton)



Routledge (Swansea City) - Fellaini (Everton) - Pienaar (Everton)



Pablo (Swansea City) - Benteke (Aston Villa) - Bale (Tottenham)

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Thierry Henry va juca din nou pentru Arsenal, de la 1 ianuarie 2013

Fotbalitul francez Thierry Henry este de acord cu o reîntoarcere pe Emirates și se va afla la cea de-a treia perioadă petrecută alături de tunari. Pentru prima dată el a jucat timp de 8 sezoane pentru Arsenal, anul trecut a evoluat în șapte meciuri, iar în 2013 urmează să stea șase săptămâni.

Legitimat la New York Red Bulls, Henry traversează una dintre cele mai bune perioade, chiar dacă a ajuns la 35 de ani. Francezul a marcat de 15 ori în cele 29 de meciuri pe care le-a disputat pentru americani și a prins finala de trei pentru premiul de cel mai bun jucător din MLS.

Cele două părți trebuie să se pună de acord asupra detaliilor împrumutului, iar Arsene Wenger încearcă să obțină maximum din partea clubului american. Campionatul de peste Ocean începe în luna martie, iar New York Red Bulls ar fi de acord cu un împrumut de la 1 ianuarie până la mijlocul lunii februarie.

De cealaltă parte, antrenorul tunarilor și-ar dori să îl păstreze pe Henry până la sfârșitul celei de-a doua luni a anului, ca să îl poată folosi în cel puțin nouă meciuri. Francezul este golgheterul all-time al lui Arsenal cu 228 de reușite în tricoul alb-roșu.

"Henry este jucătorul pe care și l-ar dori oricine. Are viteză, execuții extraordinare și un talent nativ. Sper să ne punem de acord și să revină chiar și pentru câteva săptămâni la Arsenal. Cu toate acestea noi ne gândim doar pe termen scurt, ci ne interesează și să realizăm câteva transferuri definitive.", a declarat Arsene Wenger.


Principala țintă din iarnă a echipei din Londra este Adrian Lopez, jucătorul lui Atletico Madrid. Wenger a vrut să îl cumpere și în vară, dar atunci a optat pentru Giroud. De această dată, managerul lui Arsenal nu mai vrea să îl scape pe talentatul jucător iberic.

Sursa

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Premier League - Team of the Week 15


Guzan (Aston Villa)



Rangel (Swansea City) - Shawcross (Stoke City) - Agger (Liverpool) - Vertonghen (Tottenham)



Kanu (Reading) - Fellani (Everton) - Diame (West Ham) - Pilkington (Norwich)



Rooney (Man United) - Michu (Swansea City)

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Manchester City vs Manchester United preview

Manchester United and Manchester City will both enter their highly anticipated derby on Sunday on the back of underwhelming results.

United fell to a 1-0 home loss to Romanian outfit CFR Cluj in mid-week, while City finished bottom of their group in Europe courtesy of a 1-0 reverse away to Borussia Dortmund.

Roberto Mancini's men will no doubt be ropable their star-studded squad could not even get them into the Europa League, while United - despite their loss not costing them a last 16 spot - will be looking to bounce back from being beaten in their own backyard by a relative minnow.

And despite sitting in the top two spots on the league table, both sides had some unusual results of late.

United's form line reads: loss to Norwich City, loss to Galatasaray (Champions League), come-from-behind win over QPR, narrow win over West Ham and another come-from-behind win over Reading.

That both QPR and Reading led against United is a sign their defence is more than capable of being beaten - something that City has shored up at the expense of goals.

In a squad stacked with star goalscorers, City failed to threaten against Chelsea in a stalemate, took 69 minutes to break down Wigan's defence, only scored from the spot against Everton and failed to trouble the scorers against Dortmund.

So it leaves the two clubs with everything to play for, let alone Premier League points, but there is clearly some momentum up for grabs for the side that performs the better at Etihad Stadium.

City should get back Gael Clichy (ankle) and Jack Rodwell (hamstring) for the all-important derby, while United have revealed defender Nemanja Vidic (knee) will not make his long-awaited comeback at the weekend.

Winger Antonio Valencia (thigh) could return, though, while Nani (hamstring), Anderson (hamstring) and Shinji Kagawa (knee) are already ruled out.

City will be missing Micah Richards (knee), Alexander Kolarov (groin), James Milner (hamstring), while midfielder David Silva remains in doubt due to a hamstring complaint.

City took all 6 points on offer against United last season on their way to clinching the title, but United were triumphant 3-2 at Eastlands in the FA Cup third round in January.

Mancini's side won their recent league clash there 1-0, with Vincent Kompany's towering header the difference in what turned out to be a defining victory.

[portughezu']

meci nebun şi în Everton - Tottenham
tottenham a condus până prin minutul 90, dar în mai puţin de 2 minute Everton a egalat şi în cele din urma a marcat şi golul victoriei !

[beavis]

Premier League - Team of the Week 16


Robert Green (QPR)



Johnson (Liverpool) - Nelsen (QPR) - Bassong (Norwich) - Evra (Man United)



Snodgrass (Norwich) - Wilshere (Arsenal) - McCarthy (Wigan) - Valencia (Man United)



Torres (Chelsea) - Rooney (Man United)

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Barry handed one-match ban

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has been handed a one-match ban for using abusive language towards a match official.

The 31-year-old was charged by the Football Association after the club's derby defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

The England international accepted the charge of the suspension as well as an £8.000 fine meaning he will miss his side's Premier League clash with Newcastle on Saturday.

Barry accepted the punishment after using abusive language towards 4th official Mark Clattenburg in the tunnel minutes after his side's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.

The news of the 31-year-old's suspension will come as a bitter blow for City manager Roberto Mancini, as Barry has been a key player for his side this season featuring in 17 games so far in all competitions, after returning from hernia operation in September which kept him out of Roy Hodgson's England squad for EURO 2012.

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bine ca n-a jucat cu steaua..pierdea city la masa verde cu 3-0..

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City cut annual losses in half

Manchester City have announced huge losses for the second year in a row, with the club losing £98 million during the last financial period.

City reported turnover for the same period of £231 million, the highest in the club's history and a rise from £150 million the previous year, but still underwent a significant overall loss.

The club's inability to progress from the Champions League group stages is believed to have had a huge impact on their turnover.

However, the figures represent a marked improvement from the season before, when City lost a total of £198 million.

Meanwhile, the club posted marginal increases in gate and TV revenue, and more than double their commercial revenue from £65 million to £121 million.

Moreover, it is believed that around £80 million of the losses originates from contracts that pre-date 2010, from which City expect to get some kind of relief.

The overall figures have led the Blues to remain confident in their ability to meet UEFA's Financial Fair Play guidelines as £15 million of their losses have come from infrastructure and youth development costs.

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Fellaini & Clarke pick up November awards

Steve Clarke has won the Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month award after guiding West Bromwich to 4 victories in their 5 league games in November.

Marouane Fellaini picked up the Player of the Month award as a reward for scoring 4 goals for Everton last month, taking his goal tally to 7 for the season by the end of November.

Clarke oversaw 4 consecutive wins for West Bromwich, including a memorable 2-1 victory over Chelsea at the Hawthorns.

His side also secured victories over Wigan Athletic, Southampton and Sunderland in November, and Clarke was pleased to see his team's efforts recognised.

For Everton, Fellaini has been integral to another impressive month for the Merseyside club, scoring 2 goals in the draw at Fulham, as well as the equalisers in the draw at home to Arsenal and the 2-1 win over Sunderland at Goodison Park.

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Newcastle hit by Ben Arfa blow

Alan Pardew is contemplating having to do without star man Hatem Ben Arfa for the Christmas programme.

The 25-year-old France international missed Saturday's 3-1 Barclays Premier League defeat by Manchester City after aggravating a hamstring injury and Pardew has admitted his absence is likely to be extended.

Ben Arfa suffered the original damage during the 1-1 Europa League draw with Maritimo at St James' Park on 22 November and sat out the following 4 games as a result.

He returned and scored in the 2-1 defeat at Fulham on 10 December, but later reported discomfort in the hamstring and fearing an escalation, Pardew has decided to rest him fully in a bid to avoid a much lengthier lay-off.

Ben Arfa is likely to miss Saturday's vital home clash with QPR, who finally recorded their first win of the campaign at the weekend, and the daunting Boxing Day trip to Manchester United as well as the visit to Emirates Stadium 3 days later.

The Frenchman has been one of the few Magpies to have produced his top form this season and his loss is a significant blow to a manager who has seen his side defeated in 6 of its last 7 league games.

His unavailability, coupled with those of central defender Steven Taylor and midfield playmaker Yohan Cabaye, has come at just the wrong time with the club sitting precariously just 2 points above the relegation zone ahead of a testing run of fixtures.

Pardew will at least have no fresh fitness concerns ahead of the QPR game with the rest of his squad having emerged unscathed from their ultimately fruitless second half fightback against City.

[beavis]

Premier League - Team of the Week 17


Joe Hart (Man City)



Walker (Tottenham) - Vertonghen (Tottenham) - Williams (Swansea) - Baker (Aston Villa)



Cazorla (Arsenal) - Taarabat (QPR) - Hoolahan (Norwich)



Van Persie (Man United) - Benteke (Aston Villa) - Podolski (Arsenal)

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Sterling signs new deal

Liverpool have confirmed that 18-year-old winger Raheem Sterling has signed a new long-term contract with the club.

Earlier this week, goal.com exclusively revealed that Sterling was on the brink of signing a 5-year-deal with the Reds.

And Liverpool have today confirmed that the talented youngster has pledged his future to the Merseyside club.

Sterling was signed from QPR in 2010 for an initial fee believed to be around 500.000 pounds and has since gone on to become a first-team regular at Anfield.

Having chalked up 25 appearances so far this term, Sterling's form was impressive enough to earn him his first international call-up for Roy Hodgson's England side in November.