Friday, December 14, 2012

David Luiz shows Gary Neville how to play the game

David Luiz was once described by Gary Neville as looking like a Playstation character controlled by a 10-year-old.

But the Brazilian looked far from the liability he has been labelled to be in the Club World Cup victory over Monterrey, patrolling the Chelsea midfield for over an hour before being replaced by Frank Lampard.

And, prior to the game, the 25-year-old made it clear he was able to take criticism on the chin and move on.

“When you experience difficult moments, I know I’m strong enough to change things and move on," Luiz said.

“I know my personality and what it’s taken to get me here at Chelsea. It’s just another moment to be strong.”

Wenger on thin ice after Arsenal defeat to Bradford

Ahead of Arsenal's trip to Bradford City in the Capital One Cup, the oft-derided tournament was starting look like the Gunners' best chance of ending their long wait for a trophy.

Indeed on paper, Arsene Wenger's side looked to have the pick of the ties having being drawn to face the League Two side in the quarter-finals of the competition.

The Frenchman even picked a strong team for the match, yet that did not matter to Bradford. The League Two side almost won the game in 90 minutes, before Thomas Vermaelen popped up with a late equaliser to take the game to extra-time

However, Bradford were not to be denied and took the Gunners all the way to penalties before beating them in the shoot-out to dump them out of the competition and leave under-pressure Wenger on thin ice at Arsenal. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Bonucci, Sergio Busquets' horrible student

Juventus striker, on loan from Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner mocked his teammate Leonardo Bonucci, after the later tried to playfully dive, in order to get a penalty.

Danish international on his own account on Twitter joked "who fired on Bonucci? Haha :)"

It seems that Bonucci was a failure to learn scuba diving ...

Balotelli made to work for Manchester City stay

Mario Balotelli frustrated many in Manchester City's derby defeat against arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

The Italian striker has just the rest of December to prove himself to chiefs at the Etihad Stadium, with AC Milan waiting in the wings to swoop for him if he cannot impress.

Roberto Mancini has regularly stood by his compatriot, but is he now facing a losing battle to help the 22-year-old become one of the game's most feared strikers?

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Invisible man Samir Nasri's hole in the wall costs Manchester City the derby

Manchester City's unbeaten start to the Premier League season came crashing to an end with a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

The champions looked to have hauled themselves back into the game at 2-2, having initially trailed following Wayne Rooney's first-half double, before Robin van Persie's free-kick took a killer deflection off Samir Nasri in the City wall and slipped beyond the reach of Joe Hart into the back of the net.

Manager Roberto Mancini was far from happy, stating: "We made a mistake and only put three players there. Actually we had only had two-and-a-half players there."