Having watched the Barclays Asia Trophy and the Emirates Cup, I have to say Arsenal is looking very good.
The defence seems much calmer with Petr Cech in goal and the movement of the midfielders look very promising, especially the inter-play between Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey.
The only area that needs improvement is in the attacker department. While Oliver Giroud and Theo Walcott had scored in both the tournaments, they too missed quite a few good chances, too many in fact.
The Gunners might be able to overcome this against weaker oppositions where they will create tons of chances but against defensive strong outfits like Chelsea, where chances are at a premium, they have to find the back of the net whenever they have a sniff of the goal.
And it seems like Arsenal is keen to address the issue and have been linked with a few strikers, among them, Karim Benzema and Fernando Llorente.
Benzema is believed to be the number one choice after been linked with Arsenal for a few seasons. Even thou Benitez had stated that Benzema is not for sale, it had not stop rumours of the Frenchman being unsettled at the Bernabeau.
It is believed that the Gunners are prepared to up their initial bid of £31 million to £35 million for the Real Madrid striker and if the deal fails to materialise, Wenger will turn his attention to Fernando Llorente.
Over the weekend, Arsenal were reported to offer Serie A champions, Juventus, £8 million for the 30-year-old.
Llorente had proved invaluable to Juventus' domestic and international success the last two seasons. Despite his age, it is hard to believe that the Old Lady will let him go for that sum of money.
But how does the Benzema and Llorente measured up to Giroud and Walcott?
Fernando Llorente - Played 25(6) / Goals 7 / Assist 1 / WhoScored.com ratings 6.70
Karim Benzema - Played 29 / Goals 15 / Assist 10 / WhoScored.com ratings 7.56
Olivier Giroud - Played 21(6) / Goals 14 / Assist 3 / WhoScored.com ratings 7.23
Theo Walcott - Played 4(10) / Goals 5 / Assist - / WhoScored.com ratings 6.61
Based on statistics, Benzema is an upgrade while Llorente isn't going to improve the squad much.
And to finally end their 10 years wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal have to go for only the best.
Showing posts with label Juventus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Juventus. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Rich rich champions
All around Europe, the leagues are coming to an end and clubs being crowned champions.
In the five biggest league in Europe, we have Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and most recently Barcelona and Paris St Germain (PSG) winning their respective leagues.
Beside being champions, all the clubs had a common denomination, they are rich.
According to Deloitte report, Bayern Munich had the third most revenue for the 2013/14 season. Barcelona is 4th, PSG 5th, Chelsea 7th and Juventus 10th.
The top two are occupied by Real Madrid and Manchester United. While both did not had a good season, expect Real Madrid to be up there next season. As for Manchester United, they are a club in transition.
Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus had silverwares laden history, so it is not surprising to see their huge fanbases. However, the same cannot be said of Chelsea and PSG. Both clubs were in limbo until they were taken over by billionaire owners.
With the sheer amount of money thrown into the clubs, both Chelsea and PSG were transformed, from also-ran to champions in super short period.
As the silverwares come, so too did the fans. The result? Higher revenues from television, match-day, merchandises and the money-pot Champions League.
The revenue is then spend on strengthening the already winning team, making them almost untouchable.
The big question, money before success or success comes money?
Like all businesses, without a heavy initial investment, one will not be able to bring in the resources to create the product that will bring in the moolah.
So rightly or wrongly, the same is applicable to a soccer club.
In the five biggest league in Europe, we have Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and most recently Barcelona and Paris St Germain (PSG) winning their respective leagues.
Beside being champions, all the clubs had a common denomination, they are rich.
According to Deloitte report, Bayern Munich had the third most revenue for the 2013/14 season. Barcelona is 4th, PSG 5th, Chelsea 7th and Juventus 10th.
The top two are occupied by Real Madrid and Manchester United. While both did not had a good season, expect Real Madrid to be up there next season. As for Manchester United, they are a club in transition.
Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus had silverwares laden history, so it is not surprising to see their huge fanbases. However, the same cannot be said of Chelsea and PSG. Both clubs were in limbo until they were taken over by billionaire owners.
With the sheer amount of money thrown into the clubs, both Chelsea and PSG were transformed, from also-ran to champions in super short period.
As the silverwares come, so too did the fans. The result? Higher revenues from television, match-day, merchandises and the money-pot Champions League.
The revenue is then spend on strengthening the already winning team, making them almost untouchable.
The big question, money before success or success comes money?
Like all businesses, without a heavy initial investment, one will not be able to bring in the resources to create the product that will bring in the moolah.
So rightly or wrongly, the same is applicable to a soccer club.
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Old Lady gatecrashed El Classico
EL Classico reads the headline.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid at Berlin for the most coveted silverware of European club trophies. Majority of the neutral fans wanted it too. But the Old Lady from Turin is having none of it.
Barcelona did their part despite losing 3-2 at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich threatened to stage another amazing comeback when Mehdi Benati put the German side 1-0 ahead on the 7th minute.
But two goals in 15 minutes from Neymar kills off any hope the Germans had of overturning the tie.
Lewandowski and Mueller both scored in the second half but it was mere consolation.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Real Madrid went for it from the start and was rewarded when Chellini fell James in the box and Ronaldo buried the resulted penalty. Level on aggregrate but leading on away goal rule, Real Madrid was in the driving seat.
Instead of sitting back, the home side went for it and it took some fine goalkeeping from Buffon to prevented the home side from extending their lead.
Juventus turned the tie back in their favour in the 57th minute when old boy Morata equalised for the Italian side.
Tried as they might, Real Madrid could not find the goal to bring the match into the extra time.
When the final whistle goes, so too did Real Madrid's dream of becoming the first team to retain the Champions League title.
Barcelona vs Real Madrid at Berlin for the most coveted silverware of European club trophies. Majority of the neutral fans wanted it too. But the Old Lady from Turin is having none of it.
Barcelona did their part despite losing 3-2 at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich threatened to stage another amazing comeback when Mehdi Benati put the German side 1-0 ahead on the 7th minute.
But two goals in 15 minutes from Neymar kills off any hope the Germans had of overturning the tie.
Lewandowski and Mueller both scored in the second half but it was mere consolation.
Stats provided by WhoScored.com
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Real Madrid went for it from the start and was rewarded when Chellini fell James in the box and Ronaldo buried the resulted penalty. Level on aggregrate but leading on away goal rule, Real Madrid was in the driving seat.
Instead of sitting back, the home side went for it and it took some fine goalkeeping from Buffon to prevented the home side from extending their lead.
Juventus turned the tie back in their favour in the 57th minute when old boy Morata equalised for the Italian side.
Tried as they might, Real Madrid could not find the goal to bring the match into the extra time.
When the final whistle goes, so too did Real Madrid's dream of becoming the first team to retain the Champions League title.
Stats provided by WhoScored.com
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Return turns sour
When the draw for this year's Champions League semi final was announced, beside the mouth-watering ties, there was the subplot of old boys returning to their former hunting ground.
Carlos Ancelotti will bring his Real Madrid squad to Turin to face Juventus, which the Italian managed from 1999-2001 while Pep Guardiola will be in the opposite dugout at the ground where he spent almost 30 years as a player and then manager.
They say familiarity gives you a slight advantage, but the game ended with Juventus winning 2-1 against the holders and Barcelona hammering Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, 3-0.
Juventus vs Real Madrid
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
With the return leg to come at the Bernabeau and facing only an one goal deficit, Real Madrid has a fighting chance to become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy.
As for Bayern Munich and Guardiola, they will have to wait for another season, unless they can pull off another miracle. Impossible? Just ask Porto.
Carlos Ancelotti will bring his Real Madrid squad to Turin to face Juventus, which the Italian managed from 1999-2001 while Pep Guardiola will be in the opposite dugout at the ground where he spent almost 30 years as a player and then manager.
They say familiarity gives you a slight advantage, but the game ended with Juventus winning 2-1 against the holders and Barcelona hammering Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, 3-0.
Juventus vs Real Madrid
Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
With the return leg to come at the Bernabeau and facing only an one goal deficit, Real Madrid has a fighting chance to become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy.
As for Bayern Munich and Guardiola, they will have to wait for another season, unless they can pull off another miracle. Impossible? Just ask Porto.
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