blueberryjerry
Veteran Member
Posts: 3,548
Status: Offline
Joined:
pm
| | more surprised if players came o (30th Jun 17 at 2:33am UTC) | | | Gareth Wheeler of TSN Radio 1050 Toronto offers his Midweek Musings for Match-day 24 in the Barclays Premier League. Eric Hosmer Royals Jersey . - Chelseas 1-0 win at the Etihad, spoiling Manchester Citys perfect home record continues to be the talking point of the week. Chelseas prudent defensive record and approach under Jose Mourinho always makes them a contender in all competitions. Tactically, the Portuguese is among the finest managers in the game. His public demeanour remains all over the place, providing fodder for argument. Despite sitting only two points back of Arsenal atop the table and having an easier schedule the rest of the way, Mourinho continues to downplay Chelseas title chances. Assessing the title race, Mourinho explains, "Two horses (Arsenal, Man City) and a little horse (Chelsea) that still needs milk and to learn how to jump. A horse that next season can race." Not sure if were getting the straight goods, straight from the horses mouth. Yes, Chelsea is a team in transformation as Mourinho finds players to ideally play his way. Add a striker and another centre-back for next season, and add the injured Marco van Ginkel into the fray, Chelsea promises to be scary good next season. That being said, Mourinho suggesting Chelsea is on the outside looking in is a fallacy. Mourinho cant believe it to be true. A trip to Anfield is as difficult as it gets away from Stamford Bridge. And his team is undefeated in their last 10. In this analysts eye, Chelsea are favourite to win the league. Downplaying Chelseas chances is an alternative type of psychological warfare. Sir Alex Fergusons Manchester United, who dominated the Premier League for the better part of the last two decades, were always full of belief, publicly and privately stating their intent in the title race. Its shocking Mourinho is using this tact when he has a team of millionaire superstars at his disposal. No matter what he says, Mourinho isnt fooling anyone. At the very least, it keeps things interesting. - City was down two key players in Mondays loss. Centre-midfielder Fernandhino and top striker Sergio Aguero missed the all-important occasion through injury. While Fernandhinos steady approach was missed, it paled in comparison to the void left by Aguero. While Citys other forwards are of high quality, they lack the same game-breaking ability of Aguero. 15 league goals in 15 games is an astounding record. A constant danger inside the box and lethal on his right foot, City lacked the Argentines cutting edge against a team difficult to penetrate. Its no coincidence David Silva is at his best with Aguero on the field. The movement off the ball makes the duo as difficult a combination to play against as any in world football. Matches against Chelsea in the FA Cup and Barcelona in the Champions League in the next two weeks, potentially without Aguero, raises true questions of whether City can truly compete in all four competitions. Aguero is that important. - As Mourinho continues to make a near seamless transition back into English football, David Moyes struggles at Manchester United remain. A 2-1 loss against lowly Stoke City, a team having picked up just one point in their previous six, compounds his problems. Moyes has made 83 changes to his starting XI in league games, 11 more than any other manager in the Premier League. Injuries have been an issue here, but no excuse for such poor form. The lack of involvement and interplay between attacking players was ultimately most disturbing at the Britannia. Michael Carrick being forced to centre-back is one thing, but the attacking players going MIA speaks to Moyes team approach lacking inspiration. Where are the fresh ideas? What is his teams identity? These questions cant be answered. And that is a failure. United are playing an unimaginative, passive, unaware brand of football. One has to wonder if a manager of alternate stature would be faring better at present time with this team. What if Mourinho was at Manchester United? Its difficult to think this same team would be in seventh place under the Portuguese leadership. Its a valid question to ask, as it seemed all along Mourinho wanted the Old Trafford job. And in his autobiography, Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise of Mourinho and his managerial ability. Ferguson may have seen some of himself in Moyes. But did United need another Ferguson? Better question: can another Ferguson be cultivated in the present day climate? Moyes isnt going anywhere, for now. But its legitimate to question whether Ferguson picked the right successor for a new Manchester United. - Arsenal may be the most under-respected among title contenders. There has been a remarkable consistency in the side. The attacking flair and superior passing remains, even without Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey. The development of the centre-back partnership between Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker has been essential to the exceptional form. The spine of the team is arguably the strongest in the league, led by the duo. Arsenal remain undefeated since January 2012, a stretch of 31 games with Koscielny and Mertesacker both in the starting XI. The next two games are massive for Arsenal and potential title hopes. Back-to-back games at Liverpool and home to Manchester United are true tests. Full points would be a giant step towards ending their 10-year title drought. It would also silence the critics wondering where the January striker signing ended up. - The true importance of a manager will be tested now that Michael Laudrup has been sacked by Swansea City. Laudrup helped build on the accomplishments of Brendan Rodgers at the Welsh club, leading Swansea to their first major silverware in the clubs history and venturing into the previous unchartered territory of the Europa League. Injuries have decimated the team, with last years star player Michu a long-term absentee. The midfield has been torn apart, and the failure to bring back Ki-Sung Yueng off loan from Sunderland raised eyebrows. A vacation to Paris, dressing room turmoil, an uncertain future, and six points from their last 10 matches all contributed to his sacking. Fact remains Swansea have completed almost 600 more passes than any team in the league and still have the top pass accuracy. The stylish football is no fluke. Its progressive and refreshing. Credit Laudrup. With the short-term hiring of Garry Monk, the club is apparently choosing stability over style. A risk, not worth taking. It will be determined in short order the importance of style vs. stability. Id choose Laudrup. Now a relegation fight beckons under the veil of the great unknown. Good luck with that. - The Sunderland climb off the bottom continued with an emphatic 3-0 away derby win over Newcastle. Gus Poyets side is flying, with true competition for places in the side, and a good combination of strength and skill. As for Newcastle, its all gone pear-shaped. The loss of Yohan Cabaye was the first blow. Being without top goal scorer Loic Remy, suspended for three was the clincher. An in-form Remy and consistency from Hatem Ben Arfa will be essential to staying in the top half of the table. Some good news for Newcastle, the teams latest embarrassment, director of football Joe Kinnear has mercifully stepped aside, putting an end to experiment gone wrong from the get-go. Kinnear said hed be judged in the transfer window; he didnt sign one player last summer or in January. He did however state potential transfer interest in a player already at the club during a radio interview. An absolute nightmare. Alan Pardew now solely has to deal with the bad dreams. His team is a mess, again. - West Hams co-owner David Gold is threatening legal action over Andy Carrolls red against Swansea City. Carroll swung recklessly, albeit not making much contact, after challenging for an aerial ball with Chico Flores. Its difficult to judge intent, and if there was, it should always be an automatic sending off. Carroll now faces a three-match ban. Most troubling, West Ham believes Carrolls suspension could make-or-break the Hammers in their relegation fight. Scary thought. Carroll was involved in both West Ham goals last week, but has been an absolute nightmare in front of goal. His performances have been abysmal. And the player often looks lost. If West Ham is relying upon Carroll as saviour, they may as well already punch their ticket to the League Championship. Not good enough. Omar Infante Jersey Kansas City Royals Jersey .The Los Angeles Lakers star passed Michael Jordan for third on the NBAs career scoring list Sunday night in a 100-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. http://www.baseballroyalsofficial.com/mike-moustakas-jersey-c-7/ . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection.TORONTO – Its a good thing youve gotten used to life without a healthy Brett Lawrie. Its time to draw on that experience and let it guide you through the foreseeable future. After playing just three innings in Tuesday nights game, Lawries highly anticipated return from a 36-game absence with a fractured right index finger, he took himself out of the game with what initially was described as lower back tightness. Turns out the 24-year-old has a strained oblique muscle, his third in three seasons in whats become a chronic pattern of core body injuries, and will be out for at least the remainder of August. "The biggest thing is its not the same injury that he had in 2013," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "That being said, from a recovery standpoint, obliques can take anywhere from three to six weeks. So you just dont know how hes going to recover, how strong hes going to feel. Everybody recovers at their own pace." Lawries injury is on the left side, which resembles his oblique strain of last year, but its in a different location. Anthopoulos said his third baseman insisted he hadnt felt pain during his minor league rehab assignment. The issue flared up during batting practice on Tuesday but Lawrie initially didnt feel it was serious enough to ask out of that nights starting lineup. Anthopoulos said Lawrie has gotten better at communicating his aches and pains over the years. "Especially with him having been through it, hes become a lot more intelligent with knowing his body and knowing when to try to push through things and when to scale back," said Anthopoulos. "Especially with obliques, knowing how long you can take to recover, I think its just one of those things that happened." Lawrie is still young, both in age and in major league experience. This is just his third full season on a major league roster. Hes still looking for his first completely healthy season. Since the start of 2012, Lawries played in 302 of the Jays 439 games (including Thursdays series finale with Baltimore). Thats an appearance rate of 68.8-percent. He missed time in May with a tight hamstring, although he didnt go on the disabled list. Hes also had the finger and now the oblique. Last year, it was an oblique strain, followed by a severely sprained ankle suffered while sliding into second base. In 2012, it was the oblique. Theres been a broken hand and other nicks and bruises. Maybe Lawrie is jjust injury-prone. Kendrys Morales Jersey. Maybe the Blue Jays need to alter Lawries training regimen. Hes tightly wound, cutting as muscular a figure as youll see on a ballplayer. "The tough one on this one is we dont know what the cause was," said Anthopoulos. "Even at the World Baseball Classic, he had a full month to get ready for games and he went down there and I think he dove for a ball and he felt it there. Im going to talk to our guys. Obviously its a new thing but at some point maybe well do some things with Brett that maybe we think can prevent (future injury)." Linds Timetable Adam Lind has recovered from a fractured right foot and played in a Gulf Coast League game on Thursday, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and a run scored before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. "I spoke to him two days ago, just asking about his timing at the plate and he mentioned to me, he says he didnt feel he was going to need a lot of rehab games," said Anthopoulos. "He just felt his timing was there. He said he faced Neil Wagner and (Roberto) Osuna, who were throwing hard." Anthopoulos pegged Monday in Seattle as a possible return date for Lind, who went on the disabled list on July 8 after playing almost a month with a fracture in his right foot, suffered on a foul ball on June 14 in Baltimore. Encarnacions Status Edwin Encarnacion is swinging a bat and running the bases at the Blue Jays complex in Dunedin, Florida. Anthopoulos pegged Encarnacions return for sometime on the next road trip, no later than the Chicago series but possibly as early as Seattle. The Jays visit the Mariners next Monday to Wednesday and the White Sox from a week Friday to Sunday. No Team Meeting Anthopoulos didnt feel it necessary to call his team together to explain why the ballclub was quiet at the trade deadline. "No, I dont think theres anything to address," said Anthopoulos. "I think I was asked about it that day and my response was I expect players to want to get better, to want to win. I wouldnt expect anything else. Id be more surprised if players came out and said, Wow, this is great, were so glad we didnt add any players." Jose Bautista and Casey Janssen were critical of the clubs decision not to make any improvements. Anthopoulos said there were no deals available which would have made the Blue Jays better, citing what would-be trade partners were asking in return. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' ' | |
|
