Monthly Archives: October 2015

Guest Post By Karl Matchett

Two games into the Jurgen Klopp reign at Liverpool, Adam Lallana has been one of the players counted upon to feature heavily and in a pivotal role as the new manager seeks to transform both style and consistency of the team.

Starting against Tottenham and Rubin Kazan in a withdrawn, right channel role to support the main striker and be an outlet for the midfield, Lallana has been very involved in receiving possession quickly and charged with being both a conduit and a creator. With injuries robbing Klopp of his main forwards, offensive-minded midfielders have been relied upon throughout both 90 minutes, without huge success so far.

Lallana, at his best, is a great technical talent. His first touch is immaculate and he is able to turn his body in tune with the flight of the ball, evading

Looking at the stats from Saturday's game between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur, one might say that even the great Jurgen Klopp can't take a struggling club and make them winners overnight. The former Borussia Dortmund manager was announced as the new manager for Liverpool following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers. Jurgen Klopp's first Liverpool game ends in a 0-0 draw at Spurs, not a bad result but perhaps not the win many fans were envisioning.

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A Running Game

Even if Klopp didn't get a win, though, the general consensus seems to be that he has already changed the way that the football club plays the game. As ESPN FC noted in the days following the match, Liverpool's players were running and moving more than they have all season. The Spurs typically play a very running-oriented

During the 2014 2015 Serie A season, as they collected a fourth consecutive league title, Juventus won 26 games, drew nine, and only lost three. This season, during the first eight weeks of Serie A 2015 - 2016 competition, Juve have already tallied three losses and have only collected three wins. The poor record has put the Zebras all the way back at 14^th place in the Italian league standings, a far cry from the leading position they were expected to once again occupy all season.

Whether or not Juventus have any chance at rallying and getting back to the winner's circle this season depends on who you ask. Undoubtedly, though, the collapse of Italian football's most recent dynasty has created some interesting narratives in the 2015 2016 Serie A.

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Fiorentina: Finally

Guest Post By Karl Matchett

Arsenal overcame the odds to inflict a first defeat on Bayern Munich since August in the Champions League on Tuesday night, winning 2-0 at the Emirates to keep their slim hopes of making the knock-out stage alive.

While the Gunners' first points of the group stage are obviously welcome and certainly merited on the night, it would be a mistake for Arsene Wenger-or indeed any of the fans-to think this is anything but a single step in the right direction. Redemption is not yet assured and the team still have plenty of suffering to do, plenty of anxious moments ahead, if they are to reach the last 16 of Europe's top competition.

The early mistakes made by Wenger and his players in the first two matches, against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos, were hugely costly. Playing David Ospina instead

It's been a tumultuous season at Camp Nou so far, but FC Barcelona regain traction following the International break. When Lionel Messi went down clutching his knee, 10 minutes into a September 26^th home match against Las Palmas, everyone in the stadium knew that the unthinkable had happened. Messi had dodged injury for nearly two years, ever since a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the last few months of 2013. The knee injury Messi suffered in the Las Palmas match shattered that streak and demanded that he take two months to rest and recover.

Needless to say, Messi's injury has put Barcelona's title hopes in doubt for the 2015 2016 season. Barca held things together to win the Las Palmas match but lost their next La Liga fixture, an October 3^rd away game at Sevilla. The loss cost Barca their spot at the top of the 2015 2016 La Liga table.

The good news is that Barcelona look to have regained their synergy following a two-week rest. The weekend

Slowly but surely, Chelsea FC look like they are making a comeback. After a dreadful start to the 2015 2016 season, the Blues nabbed their first Premier League win in a month on Saturday, October 17^th. Chelsea near Premier League top 10 by beating Aston Villa 2-0, they jumped into 11^th place on the EPL standings table-the highest ranking they've seen since week three.

It's probably still too early to make speculations about Chelsea returning to the league's top five, though. For one thing, the Blues got a big win a month ago, too, scoring a 2-0 victory against Arsenal on September 19^th. The game should have heralded a return to form for Jose Mourinho's squad, but was instead just a fluke that the team followed up with a draw (2-2 with Newcastle United) and an at-home loss (1-3 against Southampton).

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The qualifying group stage competition for the 2016 European Championship may have wrapped up on Tuesday, October 13^th, but the battle isn't over just yet. Sure, 20 of the 24 teams that will make up the UEFA's big tournament next summer have already been decided. The remaining four slots, meanwhile, will be decided in a playoff between the third-placed football squads from each of the qualifying groups. That contest is set to begin on November 12^th.

The Competing Teams

The question is, which four countries will be filling those last four slots? The third-placed teams from the Euro 2016 qualifiers include Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovakia. Turkey have already qualified for the 2016 European Championship, on the basis of being the third-place team with the best record in the qualifiers. The other eight teams, meanwhile, will battle

At the end of September, after Arsenal lost their second Champions League match of the fall and tumbled to last place in the group, club manager Arsene Wenger blamed the physical demands of the English Premier League for his squad's unsatisfying performances. Arsenal had originally been expected to flourish at this year's Champions League, following a strong 2014 2015 season. But losses against teams they should have beaten in the group stage-Romania's Dinamo Zagreb and Greece's Olympiacos-have left fans scratching their heads.

So why did Arsenal, a dependably solid football club in the most competitive football league in the world-lose to two relatively minor soccer teams in the Champions League? Because of the competitive nature of the Champions League, Wenger argued. The Arsenal manager reasoned that, while both Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos were able to prepare for mid-week Champions League by taking it easy and coasting to wins in their domestic games, Arsenal

Rumors of a Cristiano Ronaldo transfer have been making the rounds for half a year now, ever since the dismissal of Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti caused soccer pundits to speculate about how happy Ronaldo still is at Santiago Bernabeu. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, might be done at Chelsea if he can't turn things around for the reigning Premier League champions this season. No one has speculated much about where Mourinho would go if he resigns or gets sacked from the Chelsea job. Most of the rumors about a possible Ronaldo transfer, meanwhile, have pointed to his old football club, Manchester United, as the most likely destination. But Pauleta, the man Ronaldo passed to become Portugal's all-time leading goalscorer, thinks he has a better idea: Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho to PSG.

Pauleta's Opinion

In an interview with RTL, Pauleta said that it would be a "good idea" for both Cristiano and Mourinho

Back in July, rumors swirled that Manchester City were ready to offer Pep Guardiola £100 million to become their manager beginning in 2016. Manchester City's current manager, Manuel Pellegrini, will likely depart Etihad Stadium at the end of the current season when his contract with the football club expires. Similarly, Guardiola's contract with Germany's Bayern Munich will run out at the end of 2015 2016 season. And with Manchester City sizing up Pep Guardiola and reportedly ready to offer him a record managerial contract, worth £20 million a year for five years, there's not much to keep the Spanish football legend from heading to the Premier League for the first time.

Big Coaching Moves

Recently, the likelihood of a Pep Guardiola move to Manchester City has become even greater. First off,