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[iNickStuff]

Three Lions welcome back Wilshere to England squad ahead of Italy friendly, hoping to put their demons behind them from Euro 2020

Jack Wilshere has been welcomed back to the England squad by national coach Nicholas Kituno following his omission from the Three Lions' campaign in Denmark, where their elimination to Ukraine on penalties was the club-and-country boss' first-ever tournament on international level, and his first-ever defeat as England manager.

Jack Wilshere's surprise axe from squad that would travel to Denmark to compete for the national squad in the 2020 European Championships caused a huge rawcus in and out of the nation, where concerns over Kituno's job were raised. Fabian Delph was Wilshere's replacement, and even the Aston Villa midfielder could not keep cool under the pressure and, eventually, England were knocked out, where a penalty shoot-out in Copenhagen was to be the final match in England's tournament this season.

With there still not a reason being given for Wilshere not being included in the tournament, and the English F.A.'s faith to keep Kituno on-board, the Three Lions now travel to Italy, where their friendly against Azzuri will be a chance for them to grab their first win since that dreadful month in Denmark.

It is expected that Wilshere will start, with Delph benched and the possibility of Joe Hart or Ben Foster deputising between the sticks. Walcott's injury doubts couldn't keep him out of the squad, as he has been included alongside 22 other players in the friendly, despite having only played twice for Villa this season.

Win or lose, the expectation that England do not lose against Italy will be high, especially with Wilshere involved.
​

 

[Chris]

England's Future Generation Branded 'Jokes' in 2-0 Defeat to Hungary

New England Captain Gerrard feels frustration as England fail to turn up.​

Chris Turner's first game in charge of England did not go well, with England looking hopelessly lost in a 2-0 defeat to underdogs Hungary. The Wembley crowd booed England off at the end of the match, Aaron Lennon taking the majority of the criticism. Rudolf's brace was enough to give Hungary a fantastic win on a cold August night in London.

In a recent poll conducted after the Friendly match, 59% of people say they had never heard of Alex Smithies and Kyle Naughton, both included in Turner's radical squad. Ferdinand, Terry, Rooney, Barry and Green all dropped in favour of younger, more determined players. His gamble did not pay off.

England were lacklustre all night and it showed when Michael Dawson, haphazard at the back, gave away a penalty just before half time. It was Dawson again who was at fault for the second goal, failing to intercept a pass, letting Rudolf pounce for his second of the night. England never got a sniff apart from two Lennon sitters, both open goals, both put past the post. It was a night to forget.

'A joke of a team'

That was what the FA said about Turner's side, who included the unexperienced Tom Huddlestone in his line up, Huddlestone shaky throughout. It was a night that Turner will learn from, but he has insisted that the same squad will face Bulgaria next month.

Until then, England will come under severe scrutiny. With Turner reluctant to call back Rooney and Terry, England can expect to under-perform in these coming months, young players cracking under the immense pressure of the crowd. This could prove to be Turner's downfall.

Will England have a new boss by September? Only time will tell.


The squad that faced Hungary:

4-2-3-1

1 Joe Hart
2 Micah Richards
3 Ashley Cole
4 Steven Gerrard (Jack Wilshere)
5 Michael Dawson
6 Phil Jagielka
7 Aaron Lennon (Ashley Young)
8 James Milner
9 Jermain Defoe (Theo Walcott)
10 Tom Huddlestone (Jack Rodwell)
11 Adam Johnson

Attendance: 66585
​

 

[iNickStuff]

Unlucky. I have had difficulties in the past with Hungary, and they are an underrated side.

Looking forward to your next update vs. Bulgaria

 

[Chris]

Unlucky. I have had difficulties in the past with Hungary, and they are an underrated side.

Looking forward to your next update vs. Bulgaria

I know what you mean. It wasn't a weak team.

Hart, Cole, Jagielka, Dawson, Milner, Gerrard, Lennon, Defoe.

They are all experienced so there was no excuses.

Cheers mate.

 

[iNickStuff]

Kituno and England staff celebrate latest FIFA World Rankings update, as the Three Lions stay top for 14 months - and counting ...

The latest World Ranking released by FIFA has seen England stay in 1st position for the 14th month in a row, as the Three Lions return from Ireland following their disappointing, yet entertaining, 3-3 draw to the Boys in Green.

A late goal from the Irish denied the English of three points to go ahead of Czech Republic in their World Cup qualifiers, and now rely on their next match against one of the worst teams in Europe, Liechtenstein. England host their former Euro 2020 opponents at Wembley, with a heavily-expectant nation watching on for their boys in white to triumph over a hugely-obscure team.

The likes of Danny Welbeck, Harry Kane, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott have been influential over the last year, with great performances on international level giving them a place in last year's best eleven and in the overall best eleven. Both Wayne Rooney and John Terry recorded landmarks, as the ex-Chelsea captain John Terry got his 100th and 101st caps for the national team before retiring to become the now-assistant manager of Championship outfit Coventry City, whilst veteraned Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney beat the record for the most caps for the England national team, now boasting 136 international appearances.

But England fans cannot get too jubilant. Current European champions Holland are ranked second in the world, with 1,641 points to their name, compared to England's 1,719. A 78-point gap. In World Ranking terms, another England slip-up and another good performance by Holland could spell the end of England's international reign, having topped the rankings since September last year.

With England full expected to give Liechtenstein a good beating in London tomorrow, it will have to be their World Cup qualifying campaign to dish out some good results and, desperately, keep hold of a fourteen-month record as the 'best team in the world'.
​

 

[Vroteier9]

Beat Man Utd at Old Trafford 0-2 with Man City. Both Goal came from Brazilian Wonderkid Neymar. Wayne Rooney scored a nice header in 90Min for man Utd but had it disallowed by the assistant ref, how it looked off-side I will never know but I'm not complaining.

Match Overview
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy118/Vroteier9/manutdvsmancityoverview.png?t=1290308982
Match Stats
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy118/Vroteier9/manutdvsmancitystats.png?t=1290308979
Match Formations
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy118/Vroteier9/manutdvsmancityformations.png?t=1290308976
Match Goals
[ame="http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6JiYLNW_4Q"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6JiYLNW_4Q[/ame]

Transfers
Hulk($70,000,000.)
Neymar($35,000,000)
Marco Verratti($2,500,000)
Peter Masilela($300,000.)
Total($107,800,000)^^

​

 

[Chris]

Very nice mate. Fourteen months!

Zamora Stars as England Improve Against Bulgaria

Zamora scored his first England goal as England ease to a comfortable victory.​

It was a night where Chris Turner was all smiles as he watched his inexperienced England side dominate Bulgaria. England scored two but really should have had more. Captain Steven Gerrard led the team on, scoring one goal himself and contributing to the second.

Bulgaria came out well, dominating the first 20 minutes, however, a spark of genius from Steven Gerrard put England 1-0 up. A fine Lennon cross was met with a glancing header that flew into the top corner. Minutes later, England had their eventual winner. Once again, Aaron Lennon whipped the ball over Bulgaria and Zamora was at the back post for a simple tap in. The game was won.

Many critics were worried that Turner had, once again, fielded an inexperienced side. This time, Lennon and Huddlestone were superb. England will be more worried by Switzerland who they face on Tuesday. With Ashley Cole out for three months, it will be up to Baines or Gibbs to step up.

Chris Turner praised his players saying that 'ability, in my opinion, is more important than experience. I don't think anyone could have played as well as they did tonight.' A bold statement from the England boss, which could backfire after Tuesday's game.

For now, Turner and England have their win, they sit top of the European Qualifiers. But the real test, will be on Tuesday night.

The team that faced Bulgaria:

4-2-3-1

1 Joe Hart
2 Micah Richards
3 Ashley Cole (Leighton Baines)
4 Steven Gerrard
5 Michael Dawson
6 Phil Jagielka
7 Aaron Lennon
8 James Milner
9 Bobby Zamora (Andy Carroll)
10 Tom Huddlestone (Ashley Young)
11 Stewart Downing​

 

[iNickStuff]

Really nice update, and good to see that the team were able to gel a bit against Bulgaria.

Keep it up and you should be getting some good performances

 

[Vroteier9]

Chris & iNick u guys write some really good story's from your matches & I'm wondering if you guys can give me some tips for it.

 

[mvp93]

Woking 2013/14

BSS champions, BSP champions, League 2 champions, Fa trophy x2, JPT champions

Currently in L1 - 5th

just got beat by 5-1 by peterborough at home

 

[Chris]

Chris & iNick u guys write some really good story's from your matches & I'm wondering if you guys can give me some tips for it.

Just include description. Also, a nice layout is key, it draws people in.

Good luck!

 

[iNickStuff]

Real Madrid and Barcelona battle for Premier League champions' defensive trio, as transfer window ends in seven days

The recent emergence of Real Madrid's interest to sign Havard Nordtveit, Jorg van den Bergh and Antonio Til has unsettled many Manchester City fans, following their recent win in the semi-finals of the League Cup and 5-0 hammering of League One outfit Bournemouth and progress to the fifth round of the F.A. Cup. Madrid, who are looking to strengthen an ageing defence that includes an ex-City defender in Sebastian Bassong, and claim their eleventh consecutive league title, starting from the 2010-11 La Liga season.

Madrid, since Mourinho's appointment at the Bernabeu, have won 43 titles altogether, starting with having not lost the league title in ten years and having won the Champions League another eight times to tally the world's richest club's total to seventeen wins of the most prestigious tournament in Europe. With that, the wealth of the club has not diminished either, with the total worth of the club, according to Forbes is £1.28bn, oustripping their rivals Barcelona financially by nearly £400million. So Madrid definitely have the money.

Til, Nordtveit and Van den Bergh have not been at the club long, in fact, they all joined the Premier League champions in the summer of 2020, with Til bought at £34.5million from Real Betis, Nordtveit at £48.5million from Arsenal and Jorg van den Bergh from F.C. Bayern Munich for £21.5million. Altogether worth just over £104million, the trio have racked up, combined, 94 appearances in all competitions, with van den Bergh the most consistent. Should Madrid buy all three, with the near-bottomless well of money they posses, they should be ranking up nearly £200million in purchases, with Manchester City having millions to reinvest in the defence.

But who said Kituno was selling?

In a recent interview with BBC Manchester, current Manchester City boss Nicholas Kituno has expressed his desire to keep the important defenders at the club for a very long time, probably until they retire from the game - this especially with Havard Nordtveit. He was quoted saying:

"I have heard of these rumours and, if true, I will be doing all I can to keep them here in Manchester. Morinho can look elsewhere. I bought them six months ago for mass amounts each and I intend for them to be at the club for a very long time and help us win multiple trophies - that includes the Champions League. If Mourinho has the money, why not look at other defenders? Ours are not for sale."

An outspoken response from the City manager, whose side sits second to current leaders Manchester United by two points and hope that a win against Tottenham Hotspur on the weekend will close the gap on their close rivals. The last thing on Kituno's mind will be the persistent interest from Mourinho and Guardiola, as the Premier League title race becomes closer and closer, with outside contenders such as Middlesbrough and Newcastle United entering the fray. Teams from first to seventh are all in contention, but they will need to win their games to turn up the heat on the two northern sides.

Liverpool, who finished in the top four last year, are not amongst those contenders, as the Reds sit near the relegation zone and the job of ex-Lille boss Frederic Hantz starts to slip away, Liverpool's loss to Southampton in the F.A. Cup is justification of their mass slip from last year and why things must change at Liverpool Stadium.
​

 

[Chris]

Wow, great update Nick!

 

[Vroteier9]

defiantly,& thx for the tips hopefully I'll put one up soon.

---------- Post added at 04:49 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 04:09 PM ----------

Man City take early bow-out

Manchester City suffered their first defeat in an upsetting 2-1 defeat at the hands of underdogs Newcastle in the fourth round of the league Cup & with a math Against Chelsea in just fans are hoping that their team will improve & not fall into a slump. Man City were one of the team expected to reach the finals & their early loss will leave some many fans disappointed.

Kolo Toure & David Silva horrid passing game has lead to much criticism from the fans, despite a poor performance by most of the team. Man City Head coach Matt has also come under-fire for dropping both Patrick Viera & Vincent Kompany from his team facing Newcastle & his gamble to play 4 back-up members in his starting line-up only payed of in Mario Balotelli who scored the Citizens only goal of the match.

Newcastle went of the attack from the first whistle & Andy Carroll capitalized on Kolo Toures missed-header in the 33rd minute to score the first goal of the match. After being trip by Moyo, Mario Balotelli scored a thundering long-range free kick in the 47th minute of the game. man City would fail to launch anymore attacking moves after this Cheick Tiote made them pay when he scored out of nowhere following dangerous pass by City defender Lescott in the 78th minute & scored the wining goal for Newcastle.


​

 

[Brummy123]

Working on my own Barcalona tactic and so far based on my friendlys looks pretty good.

 

[Brummy123]

May be on to something with this tactic just played the first leg of the final and won 5-2. After I've played the second leg I'll post screenies.

 

[Brummy123]

This Barcelona tactitico is looking great!!

 

[iNickStuff]

Kituno labels Makonda 'possibly the next Evra'

PSG boss has faith in youngster's abilities to replicate United's star left-back


Paris Saint-Germain manager Nicholas Kituno has labelled promising left back Tripy Makonda as, possibly the next Evra, following his side's 3-0 win at home to clinch a place in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League. Makonda, who starred in Les Rouget-Bleu's 4-0 aggregate win against Finnish outfit FC Inter, the 20-year-old's performance at left-back has received large praise from his new boss.

Tripy, who has been at the club since 2002 and risen through the youth ranks at Paris SG, has played six times this season, and, although he is being rested in the clash against FC Sochaux tonight, whilst Siaka Tiene gets a start, Nicholas Kituno has spoken about his belief in Makonda to still emulate his performances of late in the next league game after against Arles-Avignon - a newly-promoted side from the French second flight.


Nicholas Kituno, speaking in a post-match interview at Parc des Princes, said: "I am delighted that Tripy has taken the first-team spot with a storm. He has really shone in the left back role and is starting to make a claim. The performances against FC Inter and Bordeaux were really inspiring and I hope this form continues." He went on to add " Do I think he will become a star in the future? Yes. With the right training, consistent performances and improvements, he could become one of this league's best players in a few years. He might even go on to become better than Evra if I might say."

Fellow Le'PSG team-mates in Sylvain Armand and Christophe Jallet also agree with the manager's comments, and are just as pleased with Makonda's performances on the pitch as Kituno is. Even the latest signing in the ranks of PSG, Eliaqium Mangala, a youngster who arrived to the French leagues following his £2.5million move from the Belgian outfit, spoke of his delight. Mangala, who also played in both European ties against FC Inter, has spoken about his desires to play alongside Tripy in a lesser-important game.

But with Paris Saint-Germain looking to grab all three points from Sochaux to remain in the top four and continue their unbeaten run, with seven points collected from a possible nine, the start to the season is just important as the last - but there isn't even much telling how many games Makonda may play. Time will tell this season, and certainly in the future of the Congolese descendant.

​

 

[Jinsgin]

Nearing the end of my first season with Leicester. In 3rd place, 1 point behind QPR with Burnley top of the table by 10+ points

Notable Summer signings:
Joel Epalle
Guillermo Franco
Jordi Gomez
Souleymane Bamba
Abubakari Yakubu
Selim Benachour (he's been unhappy.. real pain in the ****)
Jay Demerit

Notable January signings:
Graham Carey (220k, this guy is amazing)
Craig Fagan

I'll post some pics at the end of the season. I've got a pretty amazing squad right now

 

[Joss]

Gunners begin Winter of [dis]content

Joss Bennett's Arsenal side have finally found some consistency in the month of October as they notched up 5 wins, and 16 points from an available 18 in all competitions. Bennett will be delighted that his team are yet to lose in the league and in Europe, the two competitions which many fans consider to be the most important. Arsenal began the month with what turned out to be an unexpectedly close home encounter against Newcastle as Chamakh grabbed his first competitive goal for his new side since moving to England from French champions, Bordeaux on a free transfer. The Moroccan front man headed a late winner for Arsenal after Andy Carroll, a product of Newcastle's academy, saw his weak penalty saved by Fabianski. Bennett claimed after the match that justice had been done as he felt Sagna's sliding tackle took the ball from Jonas who seemed happy enough to go down under the right-back's challenge.

FREE VIDEO: New signing Marouane Chamakh grabs his first goal in red and white.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfCgSIPiWAo

Chamakh appeared to take real confidence from his late winner at the Emirates, grabbing another goal as the rest of the side fired blanks in a 1-1 draw away to Birmingham with Robin Van Persie dropped to the bench having not found the net since the opening fixture. There was late drama once again as Cameron Jerome turned the ball home in the 80th minute after Arsenal failed to properly clear a corner. In the Champions League, Arsenal showed almost complete dominance in front of their own fans against a strong Schalke side, missing a penalty late on as well as scoring twice in the first half through Andrey Arshavin and Laurent Koscielny.

Van Persie's terrific form against Fulham in recent years gave him a start on the right hand side of Arsenal's formation in the next game, with Chamakh starting up front. The Gunners again showed their dominance but this time failed to keap a clean sheet. Chamakh's backheel found Van Persie in the area, who ended his goal drought with a fine finish, Chamakh doubled their lead after he was found by young international Jack Wilshere, having the composure to dummy the shot before passing the ball past Mark Schwarzer. Clint Dempsey added a late consolation in injury time but the points were already confirmed. Arsenal could have had more if it wasn't for reported Arsenal target, Brede Hangelend who was the away side's best player, making important blocks and interceptions to keep the score respectable.

In the final game of the month, Chamakh and Arshavin kept up their form. The Moroccan doubled Arsenal's lead after Fabregas scored his 5th goal of the campaign. Chamakh played some part in all of the goals as his driving run on the right hand side led to Sagna crossing the ball and Fabregas sliding it home. Arshavin's skill and strength in the box was a huge part of his own goal, as the Russian passed the ball inside for Chamakh to tuck neatly in the far corner. Finally, he showed his work rate as he dropped deep ready to pick up a clearance from a stoke free-kick on the half-way line. Indeed he did pick it up, finding Wilshere whose delightful ball over the top found Arshavin's run. A beautiful goal was capped by a lovely lob over the goalkeeper as Arsenal scored 3 goals for only the third time under Bennett and earned their first three goal margin over the same period. Fabregas also missed a penalty after Wilkinson was judged to have blocked Arshavin off in the box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJg_Q65h4aY

Again this month we have been very good at the back. We kept 3 clean sheets and only conceded 2 goals but scored a lot too. Obviously Chamakh has been the stand out performer this month. I would like to say that is down to me, but it isn't! Now he is just more confident and has gelled in London - it is very positive because he can score all kinds of goals and he never gives up. His goal [against Birmingham] was a good example of this, he chased a long ball and then was in the box to finish the move, and he has scored headers too which is good because it is what we lacked last season. I feel with these extra elements, and with the depth we have in the squad now [with Wilshere in form] that we can finally end the trophy drought and hopefully win the league. We are in a good position [at the top] both in the league and the Champions League. It is very encouraging!

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