THE DRAMA OF THE FA CUP

Arsenal face Man-city in the semi-final of the FA cup. Do they really stand a chance, Arsenal's performance this season as been erratic, heart-breaking and somewhat confusing, so as Man city.
On the other hand, Chelsea face Tottenham in battle of London, which promises to be mouth watering. Both ought to be classics, going by the book.
Share your comments on which fixture would have more action and thrill.

Transfer deadline deals

Major Signings on transfer deadline day
23:13 David Luiz [Paris St-Germain - Chelsea] £34m
23:02 Moussa Sissoko [Newcastle United - Tottenham] £30m
21:14 Islam Slimani [Sporting Lisbon - Leicester] Reported £29m
20:52 Alvaro Arbeloa [Real Madrid - West Ham] Free
20:38 Mario Balotelli [Liverpool - Nice] Free
18:23 Georges-Kevin Nkoudou [Marseille - Tottenham] £9m
17:02 Eliaquim Mangala [Manchester City - Valencia] Loan
16:54 Marcos Alonso [Fiorentina - Chelsea] Reported £23m
16:01 Jeff Hendrick [Derby - Burnley] £10.5m
15:36 Didier Ndong [Lorient - Sunderland] £13.6m
14:14 Samir Nasri [Manchester City - Sevilla] Loan
13:00 Wilfried Bony [Manchester City - Stoke] Loan
12:01 Joe Hart [Manchester City - Torino] Loan

00:14 Ntumba Massanka [Burnley - Morecambe] Loan
00:04 Markus Henriksen [AZ Alkmaar - Hull] Loan

23:16 Hal Robson-Kanu [Reading - West Brom] Free
22:56 Enner Valencia [West Ham - Everton] Loan
22:55 Rickie Lambert [West Brom - Cardiff] Undisclosed

22:55 Chris Weale [Yeovil - Derby] Free

22:50 Ikechi Anya [Watford - Derby] Undisclosed

22:45 Dieumerci Mbokani [Dynamo Kiev - Hull] Loan

22:40 Marvin Emnes [Swansea - Blackburn] Loan

22:30 Christian Atsu [Chelsea - Newcastle] Loan


22:00 Lucas Piazon [Chelsea - Fulham] Loan
22:00 Jason Denayer [Manchester City - Sunderland] Loan

21:00 James Weir [Manchester United - Hull] Undisclosed

20:30 Glen Kamara [Arsenal - Colchester] Loan

20:00 Alex Baptiste [Middlesbrough - Preston] Loan

19:30 Pau Lopez [Espanyol - Tottenham] Loan


19:00 Nathan Oduwa [Tottenham - Peterborough] Loan
19:00 Luke McGee [Tottenham - Peterborough] Loan
19:00 Jake Clarke-Salter [Chelsea - Bristol Rovers] Loan
19:00 Charlie Colkett [Chelsea - Bristol Rovers] Loan


18:30 Kean Bryan [Manchester City - Bury] Loan

18:23 Clinton Njie [Tottenham - Marseille] Loan

18:00 Andre Wisdom [Liverpool - Red Bull Salzburg] Loan

17:46 Juan Cuadrado [Chelsea - Juventus] Loan

16:35 Luis Alberto [Liverpool - Lazio] £4.3m


16:20 Albert Adomah [Middlesbrough - Aston Villa] Undisclosed
16:03 Adama Traore [Aston Villa - Middlesbrough] Undisclosed

16:00 Shay Facey [Manchester City - Heerenveen] Loan

15:45 Jonny Williams [Crystal Palace - Ipswich] Loan

14:47 Serge Gnabry [Arsenal - Werder Bremen] Undisclosed

10:53 Kenneth Omeruo [Chelsea - Alanyaspor] Loan

09:22 Emmanuel Riviere [Newcastle - Osasuna] Loan
09:00 Jamie Sterry [Newcastle - Coventry] Loan
08:30 Shani Tarashaj [Everton - Eintracht Frankfurt] Loan

MAN-CITY SIGN CLAUDIO BRAVO

Man-city have confirmed the signing of Barcelona keeper Bravo.

The  33 year old Chilean keeper is expected to replace Joe Hart as Man-city number one shot-stopper this season. 
Claudio Bravo joined Barcelona in 2014 and has won two La Liga titles, the Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup.
 Please share your thoughts on how the shot-stopper would fair in the premier league.

What next for Arsenal Football Club?

Another season, another disappointment, its the same old story.
Its funny how in other clubs, heads roll. Arsenal is a special club, we always manage to pick ourselves up even in disappointment.
This season was a total disaster in my point of view, fans in London even staged a protest for this same reason. Arsenal board seems only interested in growing their finances rather than adding more laurels to our cabinet. The board was so quick in changing its perspective from winning the league , to securing a place in the champions league (a competition they seem never to have plans or strategies set out to win ).
 In the last couple of weeks, I have read so many Memes on the internet about how Claudio Ranieri's  Leicester won the league in  9months, what Wenger could not do in  12 years. Same Leicester that was locked in  relegation battle, almost all through the previous season. I say Arsenal needs an overhaul in; priorities, board, coaching crew and team. Arsenal needs to leave the pretty football and learn how to win dirty , thats exactly what champions are made of and they also need to learn how to defend as a unit and trust in each others ability.

MOURINHO SACKING A BLESSING FOR CHELSEA?

                                

With Chelsea's unimaginable start to the season, it was only a matter of time for heads to roll in the Stamford bridge part of London.
Looking at the whole scenario, one would say Mourinho was affected by two major things this season. First the Curse of Eva (the one time medic official of Chelsea who supposedly went against Mourinho's judgement and took out Eden Hazard in the match against Swansea in the season's opener) and the second "ARROGANCE".
As Manchester city previously experienced in 2012, winning the title and not sufficiently equipping themselves for  the new season,  Chelsea made a similar decision and it cost Mourinho his job.

Now whats next for Chelsea, reports suggest negotiations are on for Hiddink to take the mantle, hopefully he can save Chelsea's season. Would Chelsea survive the struggle and make it to the top four or would the English premiership prove to be the most difficult league and consume Chelsea in its glory.

Please drop your comments

Ozil - Why I control games better now

Ozil celebrates scoring Bayern

Mesut Ozil says his fine start to the season is down to Arsenal "functioning well as a team".
The playmaker has already created 10 goals this season, breaking a series of Premier League records on his way to being voted the club's Vitality Player of the Month for October. He as set a record of setting up a goal in six consecutive matches in the EPL.
While Ozil's individual form has won much praise, the German feels the team's collective performances have allowed him to thrive and make him a sensation this season.

As a team you can see that we’ve become more mature," he told Arsenal Player. "We’ve learnt from our mistakes and you can see on the pitch that we’re more steady

"I think as a team you can see that we’ve become more mature," he told Arsenal Player. "We’ve learnt from our mistakes and you can see on the pitch that we’re more steady.
"We’ve had some setbacks this season but we’ve learnt from them and it shows on the pitch that my team-mates are looking for me even more and I’m able to control the game better.
"You can see that we function well as a team. It doesn’t matter who plays from the start, we’re always there. You need a big squad if you are to be successful and that’s why things are working well

"When you look at the past seasons, we’ve always been a technically-strong team but when we played against big teams, we dropped points. In the second half of last season and in this year so far, we’ve proved ourselves against the biggest teams.
"You learn from your mistakes and we can measure ourselves with the best. That distinguishes us as a team."
           Culled from Arsenal official website

CHELSEA VS ARSENAL

CHELSEA VS ARSENAL

Chelsea host arsenal at Stamford Bridge.  A tale of exchange in form as seen both clubs fair in opposite directions in their last match.  Chelsea were superb in taking out Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday, in their champion’s league game. A repeat of that form might cause Arsenal abit of problems. Arsenal on the other hand, had a contrasting game, dominating in the first 20 minutes and feasing out afterwards.

This game might not necessarily define either of the club’s season, but a statement shall be made. Given the history between both coaches, presumably a huge statement. Wenger after failing to beat his “Nemesis” in 13 attempts, finally succeeded at his 14^th.  It’s unusual to see Chelsea hovering above the relegation zone, having conceded more goals than any other Premier League side - but they still boast great attacking quality, and largely the same XI which ran away with the title last season.

The defensive quartet has looked particularly vulnerable when high up the pitch, with John Terry surprisingly substituted at half-time of the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City - although he’s sure to start here after a rest in midweek.
Cesar Azpilicueta continues to be highly dependable at left-back, although switched to the right against Maccabi Tel Aviv, allowing newcomer Baba Rahman to start on the left. This could be an option this weekend, because usual right-back Branislav Ivanovic has been struggling - he hasn’t recovered since being taken apart by Jefferson Montero on the opening day, and Alexis Sanchez might seek to dribble past him at speed.
Arsenal are likely to dominate possession at Stamford Bridge - but they must be wary of being exposed by Chelsea’s quick counter-attacks.