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Showing posts with label Paul Scholes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Scholes. Show all posts
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Will City Buy the Premier League? - Betting News with Betfred
The World Cup seems a long time over now and many football fanatics will have been getting restless, but fear not because the Premier League is back on the horizon.
This weekend sees Chelsea and Manchester United play the traditional curtain raiser that is the Community Shield at Wembley and the defending Premier League champions are 11/8 to repeat their victory over the Red Devils in this game 12 months ago.
However, when the season proper gets underway on the 14th August, all eyes will be on Manchester City as they have blown the rest of the Premier League out of the water when it comes to spending, bringing in the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov while deals for James Milner and Mario Balotelli are also in the pipeline.
The Premier League odds make City 5/1 shots with Betfred to win the title, and this could be a good bet.
You can tell City have got some of their rivals running scared by the fact that players from both Chelsea and United have come out and taken a swipe at the billionaires from Eastlands.
First of all United's Paul Scholes stated football fans "do not know yet" exactly how good City are going to be this campaign.
Meanwhile Chelsea's Salomon Kalou has weighed in by saying he is "not sure" if Roberto Mancini's side will be stronger than last season.
"Just because you bring in 10 new players every year doesn't mean you are going to finish top of the table," the Ivory Coast forward said.
"Spending a lot of money on new signings doesn't guarantee anything."
The blue half of Manchester boasted an impressive record against the teams sure to be their title rivals in the shape of Chelsea, United and Arsenal last season and will need to repeat that this campaign, which kicks off with a clash with the team that pipped them to Champions League football in the shape of Spurs.
Despite City failing to break into the Premier League top four last season, many football fans fancy the club to copy the likes of Jack Walker's Blackburn and Roman Abramovich's Chelsea and 'buy' the title.
However, they will need to gel as a squad and ensure they don't draw as many games as they did last season, and these are no mean feats. The football betting odds suggest they should win a trophy, but it might not be the league.
My Tip for the 2010/11 Premier League Season:
It's hardly controversial, but I expect Chelsea to prove too strong for an ageing United side and a City side which could struggle with so many big egos in one squad - so 11/8 for the Blues to retain their title looks a good option.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
England's Pre-World Cup Squad of 30 Announced
Today, England boss Fabio Capello named a 30 strong Pre-World Cup squad, which he shall whittle down to a final 23 players on the 1st June.
The 30 man squad comprises of 3 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 12 midfielders and 5 strikers.
Selected in the preliminary squad are the uncapped Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson, the controversially recalled Jamie Carragher, the currently injured Gareth Barry and the somewhat surprising inclusions of Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock who have a total of just six England caps between them!
Paul Scholes, unlike Carragher turned down the opportunity to be a part of Capello's squad, as the England boss tried in vain to persuade the experienced Man Utd midfielder to make himself available.
The squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart (Man City) - 1 Cap, 23 Years Old
David James (Portsmouth) - 49 Caps, 39 Yrs
Robert Green (West Ham) - 9 caps, 30 Yrs
Defenders:
Leighton Baines (Everton) - 1 Cap, 25 Years Old
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) - 34 caps, 32 Yrs
Ashley Cole (Chelsea) - 77 Caps, 29 Yrs 
Michael Dawson (Spurs) - Uncapped, 26 Yrs
Rio Ferdinand Man Utd) - 76 Caps, 31 yrs
Glen Johnson (Liverpool) - 20 Caps, 25 Yrs
Ledley King (Spurs) - 19 Caps, 29 Yrs
John Terry (Chelsea) - 59 caps, 29 Yrs
Matthew Upson (West Ham) - 19 caps, 31 Yrs
Stephen Warnock (Villa) - 1 Cap, 28 Yrs
Jamie Carragher - surprise recall!
Midfielders:
Gareth Barry (Villa) - 36 Caps, 29 Yrs +crop.jpg)
Michael Carrick - (Man Utd) - 21 caps, 28 Yrs
Joe Cole (Chelsea) - 53 Caps, 28 Yrs
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 78 caps, 29 Yrs
Tom Huddlestone (Spurs) - 1 cap, 23 Yrs
Adam Johnson (Man City) - Uncapped, 22 Yrs
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 77 caps, 31 yrs
Aaron Lennon (Spurs) - 15 caps, 23 Yrs
James Milner (Villa) - 7 Caps, 24 yrs
Scott Parker (West Ham) - 3 caps, 29 Yrs
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) - 9 caps, 21 Yrs
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City) - 30 Caps, 28 Yrs
+crop.jpg)
Michael Carrick - (Man Utd) - 21 caps, 28 Yrs
Joe Cole (Chelsea) - 53 Caps, 28 Yrs
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 78 caps, 29 Yrs
Tom Huddlestone (Spurs) - 1 cap, 23 Yrs
Adam Johnson (Man City) - Uncapped, 22 Yrs
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 77 caps, 31 yrs
Aaron Lennon (Spurs) - 15 caps, 23 Yrs
James Milner (Villa) - 7 Caps, 24 yrs
Scott Parker (West Ham) - 3 caps, 29 Yrs
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) - 9 caps, 21 Yrs
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City) - 30 Caps, 28 Yrs
Gareth Barry - an injury doubt!
Darren Bent (Sunderland) - 5 Caps, 26 Yrs
Peter Crouch (Spurs) - 37 caps, 29 Yrs
Jermain Defoe (Spurs) - 39 Caps, 27 Yrs
Emile Heskey (Villa) - 57 caps, 32 Yrs
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) - 58 caps, 24 Yrs
Under Fifa regulations, Capello is permitted to bring players into his 23-man squad who were not included in the preliminary party.
But that would be an unusual move, meaning the final party he takes to this summer's finals in South Africa is likely to come from the one he has already named.
There are inevitably a number of players who will be disappointed at not being selected, at least in Capello's initial 30 strong squad, including the likes of:
Paul Robinson (Blackburn) - 41 England Caps, 30 Years Old. Scott Carson (West Brom) - 3 caps, 24 Yrs. Gary Neville (Man Utd) - 85 caps, 30 Yrs. Wayne Bridge (Man City) - 36 Caps, 29 Yrs. Sol Campbell (Arsenal) - 73 caps, 35 Yrs. Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) - Uncapped, 22 Yrs. Wes Brown (Man Utd) - 23 Caps, 30 Yrs. Phil Jagielka (Everton) - 3 Caps, 27 Yrs. Joleon Lescott (Man City) - 9 Caps, 27 Yrs. Gary Cahill (Bolton) - Uncapped, 24 Yrs. Ashley Young (Aston Villa) - 7 Caps, 24 Yrs. Jermaine Jenas (Spurs) - 21 Caps, 27 Yrs. Owen Hargreaves (Man Utd) - 42 Caps, 29 Yrs. Stewart Downing (Villa) - 23 Caps, 25 Yrs. Jamie O'Hara (Spurs) - Uncapped, 23 Yrs. Kevin Davies (Bolton) - Uncapped, 33 Yrs. Carlton Cole (West Ham) - 7 caps, 26 Yrs. Bobby Zamora (Fulham) - Uncapped, 29 Yrs. Gabriel Agbonlahor (Villa) - 3 Caps, 23 Yrs.
England play Mexico at Wembley on 24th May and Japan in Austria six days later as part of a pre-tournament training camp.
In my opinion the seven players that Fabio Capello will leave out of his final World Cup squad of 23 players on the 1st June are: Warnock, Upson, Dawson, Huddlestone, Barry (only if injured - if he's fit then Adam Johnson may well make way), Wright-Phillips and Bent.
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