Tag Archives: She Wore

Cheating Doesn’t Pay for Stoke City

1 Reply

They call themselves a rugby team and sing Swing Low. Whilst Stoke City are not the physical side they were under Tony Pullis, they still have a nasty side with Mark Hughes. And for once, their blatant cheating did not pay.

Timewasting at every opportunity, questions have to be asked of the referee as to why goal keeper Lee Grant was not book in the first half for taking over 30 seconds to take a free kick. Fans pay a lot of money to watch a football match. Not to watch a goal keeper take a sip of his drink, dry his hands, kick his boots on the post, change where he is taking the goal kick from and then wait a few more seconds before kicking it.

Stoke City clearly went out with a game plan. To waste as much time as possible. And it ended up catching up with them.

A couple of times during the game Stoke City players went down, crying wolf, pretending to be injured in an attempt to slow the game down and take the intensity out. To waste time.

2 minutes into the second half, they were at it again. Erik Pieters going down holding his hamstring, his back, and his head. He could not decide which one he had hurt. 1 minute of treatment on the pitch in an attempt to get time and intensity taken out of the game.

And then Arsenal got their revenge. With Pieters off the pitch, having had to walk from behind the goal to the half way line to come on, Mesut Ozil drifted in unmarked and unfollowed to lob the keeper with a header. At this point Pieters was barely in his own half. Had he not faked injury, he would have been on the pitch and likely the man to follow Ozil back in.

The fact that Pieters remained on the pitch for the entire game showed how little he was injured. He was not. And his cheating ended up costing his side a goal. 2-1 Arsenal.

Arsenal’s third goal made history.

At no point in the history of the game have a side surrounded the referee due to him NOT giving a free kick. And that is exactly what Stoke City did.

Alexis Sanchez was crudely bought down on the edge of the area, following up was serial offender Charlie Adam who stamped on the Chilean. As Stoke City players stopped waiting for a free kick, Alex Iwobi appeared clear in the box slotting it past Lee Grant, whilst Lee Mason waved play on.czvzez2wqaapdvaWith Arsenal players celebrating the goal that would take the club top of the table, Stoke City plays surrounded the referee. Demanding to know why he waved play on. Why he did not give a free kick AGAINST them. It was hilarious to watch unfold.

Stoke had attempted to time waste, foul and kick Arsenal off the pitch. And it was a foul which was not giving that was their undoing.

Back in 2007, Cesc Fabregas approached Mark Hughes at the end of a drab 0-0 draw against Blackburn. Hughes takes over the story: “When we shook hands at the end, the young man asked me a question which I thought was disrespectful. He asked me if I had played for Barcelona and when I said yes, he shook his head as if in disbelief. Then he said, ‘Well, that wasn’t Barcelona football’.”

And he is the same again at Stoke. Their cheat at all costs football ended up costing them.

Karma.

Keenos

Alexis Sanchez’s 3 year itch

2 Replies

Fact 1: Alexis Sanchez has never spent longer than 3 seasons at a club

Fact 2: Alexis Sanchez has never signed a second contract at a club

I have recently come to terms with the fact that Alexis Sanchez will leave Arsenal in the summer. He will not be signing a new contract. He will move elsewhere. I am not happy with it, as he is a World Class player who is the sides talisman, but it will be Alexis Sanchez’s choice.

Throughout his career, he has not stayed anywhere very long. He came to Europe in 2008 signing for Udinese. After 3 years in Italy, Barcelona came sniffing. No one would turn down Barcelona. He signed a 5 year contract with the Catalan giants.

Just 3 years later, he was on the move once more. This time to Arsenal. Having failed to establish himself as a superstar in Spain, and with Neymar, Lionel Messi and newly signed Luis Suarez ahead of him, he joined Arsenal.

All his moves were justifiable. You can see why he left each club, but the facts remain that he has never spent longer than 3 years at a club, nor signed a second contract.

He has also never played more than 100 league games for a club – 95 at Udinese, 88 at Barcelona, currently 79 at Arsenal.

alexis-sanchez-2

Sanchez has unfinished business in Italy. Whilst at Udinese he failed to pick up a trophy. I can see a move to Juventus materialising.

At 28, he perhaps has 6 more years left in him at the top level. So another two clubs. I can also see him going to PSG. They will pay big wages, and he will be guaranteed silverware. He then would have had some success in Spain, England, Italy (if he wins something for Juvenuts) and France. And would have experienced great cities throughout Europe.

He will then probably return to Chile as a hero.

And that is a key point as well. He will always struggle to be a club legend due to him moving, but he is a Chilean hero. An Icon. A legend. He has always put country before club, and it has previously infuriated managers as he puts his body on the line, with no regard to who pays his wages.

Sanchez reminds me a lot of Carlos Tevez. Both came from poverty to become global superstars.

Tevez also struggled to stay at any one club for very long. His longest stint was at Manchester City, where he played for 4 years.

The writing is on the wall, Sanchez will leave Arsenal this summer.

Keenos

FA Cup 3rd Round TV Games

1 Reply

fa-cup-live-on-bbc-sport-bt-sport

Monday 5th December, 7:10pm. That is when the draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup took place. It was included around 10 minutes later.

Roll forward 3 days and every fan who supports a team in the cup are still none the wiser as to when they are playing. And it is all due to the TV companies.

Games are scheduled to be played between Friday 6th January to Monday 9th January – 6 games will be shown live on BBC or BT Sport.

It is an utter disgrace that they have not yet been announced. Fans are waiting to book trains, book hotels, and even book days off work if you are unlucky enough to be on the Friday or Monday. The delay in announcing the games shows once more that match going fans are not seen as important.

The long the TV companies take, the more expensive trains will be, the more expensive hotels will be, and the less likely a boss will authorise the holiday.

It is baffling why the TV companies have not yet announced the games. It is fairly obvious who they will pick:

Manchester United v Reading will be on TV. Man U always are when it comes to the FA Cup as the TV companies take advantage of being able to show the most popular club in England. It has been over 10 years since Man U were not shown on TV. You actually feel sorry for their fans.

It is also likely that the BBC will pick Everton v Leicester for the sole reason that Gary Lineker played for both. Imagine the banter the MOTD boys will be having for that one. Leave me out.

The biggest all Premier League clash is West Ham United v Manchester City. The first FA Cup game to be held at the Olympic Stadium. It will be televised.

The TV companies are always trying to pick the story, guess the giant killing. For that reason, Preston North End v Arsenal and Liverpool v Plymouth Argyle OR Newport County will be shown. Watch the TV companies not care about fans and send Plymouth up to Liverpool on Monday night.

Lastly, the TV companies often like showing an all lower league game to show that they are supporting the lower leagues. Sutton United v AFC Wimbledon will be that game. The Surrey Derby. Just 5 miles split the two teams.

The TV companies need to get their fingers out of their arses and let us know when we can book our trains for.

Keenos