Thursday 17 May 2012

EPL: Top 20 clubs in the last eleven seasons (2001-2012)


Manchester United occupy the number one position on the list of the top 20 clubs in the English Premier League since 2001/2002 - 2011/2012 season with a total of 3,519 while Chelsea and Arsenal are on the second and third spot with 3,329 and 3,260 respectively.
Charlton Athletic who played their last Premier league game in the 2006/2007 campaign, made it to the 16th position with 695 points.
Below is the full list the top 20 clubs;

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Kenny Dalglish sacked as Liverpool Manager


Liverpool have terminated the contract of manager Kenny Dalglish after a season in which the club finished in eight position in the Premier League.
Dalglish, having enjoyed a hugely successful first stint on Merseyside as he lifted three league titles, was reappointed as Liverpool manager in January 2011 after the club sacked Roy Hodgson.
In a joint statement on the clubs official website, it said: "Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club announce that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as manager after having his contract terminated.
"After a careful and deliberative review of the season the club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily. The search for a new manager will begin immediately."

Ferdinand miss out in England squad for Euro 2012

The 23-man squad of England’s manager Roy Hodgson for the Euro 2012 was on Wednesday unveiled by the Football Association.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United players dominated the England squad for the Euro 2012 with each of the clubs producing four players.
Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain was the surprise inclusion while former captain Rio Ferdinand was the high-profile to miss the list.
The 23-man squad include;

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Man City and Tevez apologised over "RIP Fergie", United accepts apology


Manchester City has apologised to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United after their striker Carlos Tevez held up a banner which read “RIP Fergie” during city’s title-winning parade.
The 28-year-old striker who left Manchester United to Manchester City in 2009 also expressed regret for what he did.
A City spokeswoman said: "The creation of the tasteless material is in itself reprehensible and in accepting and brandishing it, Carlos has made a significant error of judgement.
"The club wishes to express its sincerest apologies to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United Football Club for any offence or distress caused."
Speaking a report Tevez said: "I got carried away in the excitement of the moment and I certainly didn't mean any disrespect to Sir Alex Ferguson, who I admire as a man and a manager."
Manchester Chief executive David Gill commended the way Manchester City acted. Speaking to Sky Sports News he said: ”I think it's right. The club acted pretty quickly. 
“I think it was rather silly, frankly, in terms of what it said, but City acted with commendable speed. “We move on and concentrate on other issues.”

Monday 14 May 2012

Alex McLeish sacked as Aston Villa manager


Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has been sacked by the club after holding talks with senior club officials on Monday.
Aston Villa lost 2-0 in their last Premier League match against Norwich to finish 16th in the league table with just 38 points.
A statement on the clubs official website confirming this read:
"Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish's contract has been terminated with immediate effect. The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.
"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."
Alex McLeish only spent eleven months with the club and Aston Villa will be going for a fourth manager in less than two years.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy announces retirement


Former Manchester United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy on Monday announced his retirement from professional football after he helped Malaga secure their  first ever top-four finish which will see them play in the Champions League next season for the first time in their history.
The 35-year-old Netherlands striker made 70 international appearances, scoring 35 goals. In his 219 official appearances for Manchester United he scored 150 goals. He also won two La Liga titles with Real Madrid and with 56 goals, he is currently the second all-time highest goal scorer in the Champions League.
Speaking in a press conference, Van Nistelrooy said:

Sunday 13 May 2012

European League results for today (May 13)


Result of matches played today in some of the major leagues in Europe including; English Premier League,Spanish Primera Division, Italian Serie A, Russian Premier League, French League 1.

Manchester City wins tiltle in injury time


Manchester City won the English Premier League after coming from 2-1 in injury time to end their 44-year wait. At the end of the official 90 minutes City were 2-1 down to Queens Park Rangers but goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero in the five minuets added time gave Manchester City the trophy.
Manchester City was on the same point with Manchester United before the match and needed a victory to secure the title but ten-man QPR were not an easy nut to crack. City had earlier gone ahead in the game in the 39th minute through a goal from Pablo Zabaleta but goals from Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie in the 48th and 66th minute put the visitors ahead.
Queens Park Rangers would have been relegated if Bolton had maintained their 2-1 lead against Stoke but the game ended 2-2 to ensure that QPR will be playing in the EPL next season.
Speaking to Sky sports after the match Mancini told Sky Sports:

Saturday 12 May 2012

European League results for today (May 12)


Results of matches played today in some of the major leagues in Europe including; Spanish Primera Division, Portuguese Liga.

Van Bommel announces Milan depature


AC Milan’s Mark Van Bommel made known today his intention of leaving the club at the season. The 35-year-old Dutchman joined Milan from Bayern Munich in January 2011 and helped the club to a first league title since 2004 last season.
Speaking to Milan’s official television, Van Bommel said: "I'm leaving Milan. I was only here a year and a half so for me it's easier to say goodbye than players like Gattuso, Nesta and Inzaghi.
 "That's the way life is - the time comes when you have to leave. When I arrived here, everyone told me this club is like a family and it's true, it is."
Van Bommel will thus join the likes of Gennaro Gattuso, Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Nesta in leaving the club at the end of the season. There are also speculations that Gianluca Zambrotta and Clarence Seedorf will also leave this summer.

Gattuso leaves Milan 

Di Matteo: I don't know what will happen after CL final


Chelsea interim coach Roberto Di Matteo has revealed he is not yet sure what will happen after the Champions League final at Munich.
Di Matteo has turned around Chelsea’s performance this season since he took over from Andre Villa-Boss. Though Chelsea will end up on the sixth position in the Premier League, they have won the FA Cup final against Liverpool and also stand the chance of winning the Champions League when they play Bayern Munich in the final later this month.
Speaking in a report, Di matteo said: "If we don't win, I guess we'll need to reassess the situation.

Friday 11 May 2012

Pardew named EPL Manager of the season


Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was crowned the English Premier League's Manager of the Season after a superb season which has seen his club challenge for a top-four finish.
Newcastle displayed a wonderful performance this season despite the close season departure of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, which came after the sale of striker Andy Carroll in January last year. The likes of Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse brought in by Pardew have proved to be a good replacement.
However Pardew, controversially appointed to replace the sacked Chris Hughton in December 2010, has overseen a renaissance in Newcastle's fortunes, and they remain in the hunt for a UEFA Champions League place heading into Sunday's final round of fixtures.

Gattuso leaves Milan



AC Milan Gennaro Gattuso will be leaving the club at the end of the season. The midfielder who has spent 13 years with Milan met for an hour with the chief executive Adriano Galliani today and afterwards announced his decision to leave.
Gattuso in his stay at Milan won two UEFA Champions League and two Serie A titles and was also a key member of the 2006 Italy FIFA World Cup winning squad.
Speaking in a report Gattuso said: “The time has come to go my own way and leave space for others.

Latest FIFA ranking for May 2012

Spain still retain the number one position in the latest FIFA ranking while Germany, Uruguay, Netherlands and Portugal remain in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th position respectively.
Below is the full table of the ranking

Thursday 10 May 2012

European League fixtures (May 10 - May 15)


Fixtures of matches that will be played in some of the major European leagues. Including English Premier League, Spanish Primera Division, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Portuguese Liga, Russian Premier League, French Ligue1.

Freiburg signs Max Kruse


German club Freiburg made their first signing of the summer with midfielder Max Kruse arriving from second division side St Pauli.
The former Weder Bremen player Kruse scored 13 goals in 34 appearances for St Pauli this season, though the record was not good enough to lead the club back into the top flight as they lost out to Fortuna Dusseldorf in the play-off on goal difference.
Speaking about the 24-year old midfielder, Freiburg’s director of sport Dirk Dufner said:
“Max kruse is a very dangerous attacking midfielder who has already some Bundesliga experience. To have managed to attract such a coveted young player to Freiburg shows that we remain an attractive destination for talented players.”
Freiburg finished 12th in the Bundesliga this season with forty points.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Atletico Madrid wins Europa League title


In the all Spanish Europa finals, Atletico Madrid defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to win the UEFA Europa League trophy at the National Arena in Bucharest on Wednesday.

Falcao increased his goal tally to twelve in the Europa League this season scoring the first two goals for Atletico in the 7th and 34th minute of the game while Diego got the third five minutes to the end of the game.

Falcao's 11th and 12th goals of the tournament not only earned him the top scorer prize ahead of Schalke's Klaas Jan Huntelaar but took his all-time record in the competition to 29 in 29 games.
The trophy now makes it Atletico’s  second in three years

Yaya wants to end career at Barca


Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has reiterated his desire to end his career back at former club Barcelona. The Côte d'Ivoire international spent three years at Barça before joining City for a fee in the region of £24m in 2010.
The 28-year-old speaking to Spanish radio station RACI said: 

Puyol: I want to retire on the pitch


Barcelona captain Carles Puyol is still hoping to reach 100 appearances for Spain despite acknowledging he is almost certain to miss this summer's European Championships due to a knee problem. Barcelona announced yesterday that Puyol will undergo an arthroscopy on 12 May after feeling discomfort in his right knee following Saturday's 4-0 defeat of Espanyol and that is set to sideline the centre-back for around six weeks.

Monday 7 May 2012

European League results for today (May 7)

Results of matches played today in some of the major leagues in Europe including; English Premier League, French League 1.

Sunday 6 May 2012

Serie A: Juventus wins title, Milan lose

Juventus defeated Cagliari  2-1 to win their first Serie A title since 2003, as Inter Milan beat AC Milan 4-2 in a fiery derby contest.

Juventus got their first goal just six minutes into the match through Mirko Vucinic and an own goal from Michele Canini made it double for the visitors in the 74th minute.

AC Milan’s hope of retaining the title was dashed after they were beaten 4-2 by Inter. The game saw three penalties awarded. Two in favour of Inter while one went to AC Milan.

Diego Milito netted in a hat-trick, two of the goals coming from the penalty spot. while Maicon got the last for Inter Milan in the 87th minute. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace was not enough to see his side get any point from the game.

Juventus who are yet to be beaten this season in the Serie A, top the league table with four points, with one more game left to play this season.

European League results for today (May 6)

Results of matches played today in some of the major leagues in Europe including; English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Dutch Eredivisie, Russian Premier League.

Saturday 5 May 2012

FA Cup Final: Chelsea beat Liverpool to win title


Chelsea won their first trophy of the season by defeating Liverpool 2-1 at the Wembley stadium on Saturday to clinch their seventh FA Cup title.

At the end of the first half the blues were leading through an 11th minute strike from Ramires. Didier Drogba got the second goal seven minutes into the second half. The goal now makes him the first man to score in four FA Cup finals.

European League results for today (May 5)

Results of matches played today in some of the major leagues in Europe including; English Premier League, Spanish Primera Division, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Portuguese Liga.

Friday 4 May 2012

Rooney strike voted best Premier League goal


Wayne Rooney’s overhead kick in the match between United and City in February 2011 has been voted as the greatest goal in the 20 seasons of the Premier League.

From the total votes cast by hundreds of thousands of supporters across the globe, Rooney’s goal got 26% of the vote. The goal scored for Arsenal by Dennis Bergkamp against Newcastle in 2002 got the second highest vote, 19% and Thierry Henry’s goal for Arsenal against Manchester United in 200 was third on 15%.