Completely irrelevant, but I saw these on YouTube & they made me laugh so thought some of you may also find them funny :)
Just to add relevance to this post, i'll mention my plans for the next couple of days. Usually you'd expect to see my Player Picks post up on a Wednesday, but because we still have fixtures tonight I've decided to delay them until tomorrow.
Rafa Benitez has a problem: he won't be able to blame injuries this weekend if it all goes wrong for Liverpool again.Only a quick post tonight due to my well known laptop issues, but tomorrow I'll sum up my Week 12 thoughts & get a Week 13 Preview up. It may not be until the evening though (around 7pm UK time).
Steven Gerrard has already declared himself fit for action against Manchester City and the word in the papers is that Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera and Alberto Aquilani may also play.
Torres was pictured back in training on Wednesday afternoon and it seems likely that he will, at the very least, be on the bench this weekend. Well, maybe.
Meanwhile, The Times reports that 'Aquilani is being lined up for his first starting appearance for Liverpool having had the carrot of a potential place in the Italy World Cup squad dangled in front of him'.
The final decision is apparently dependent on two things: Aquilani 'coming through Liverpool's two remaining training sessions unscathed' and the fitness of Benayoun and Riera.
'The pair had been expected to be out of action for up to a month with hamstring tears, but the club are optimistic that they will be fit enough to feature against City less than two weeks after they were injured,' Barrett reports.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes expects Gareth Barry to shrug off a groin problem and face Liverpool on Saturday.
Barry, who was close to joining the Reds from Aston Villa last summer before moving to Eastlands in May, suffered some discomfort following England's defeat by Brazil in a friendly last week.
Hughes said: "Gareth came back from the international with a little bit of soreness but it should not be a problem for the weekend."
The good news for Manchester United is that Nemanja Vidic is reported to have come through unscathed from 60 minutes of action for Serbia in their friendly with South Korea last night.
The bad is that The Sun is reporting that Rio Ferdinand is out for the rest of the year.
'The England centre-back has been told he needs another six weeks of rest and physio work before his back will be strong enough for Premier League football. Rio had hoped to be back by the start of December. But by the time he plays again, he will have missed at least 15 matches,' it reports.
Rather disconcertingly it also describes United's medical team as 'baffled' by Ferdinand's continuing injury woe and claims that 'one theory being looked into now is that he might need his hip realigned'.
Ouch to that.
Relief for Arsenal with the news that Kieran Gibbs has only suffered bruising to his foot.
According to The Independent, 'Gibbs will miss Saturday's game away at Sunderland. He will be fit to play against Standard Liège next week but given that Arsenal only need a single point from their two remaining Champions League games to qualify it is likely that he will be rested with a view to him being ready for the Chelsea match on 29 November.'
Such is the length of Arsenal's injury list that it's darn hard work keeping up with who is on it let alone how long they are expected will be on it, but the Press Association has taken a look and reckons that Denilson's 'recovery has gone well and should be available when domestic action resumes at Sunderland', Theo Walcott's 'knee problem is expected to have cleared up by the end of the month - which could come just in time for the clash with Chelsea' and Carlos Vela 'could be another whose recovery is sped up for the trip to the Stadium of Light'.
On the down side, Abou Diaby is predicted to be out for a few weeks with his thigh problem. It is, of course, debatable whether Diaby's absence could ever be described as a downer.
Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole is hopeful he will face Wolves on Saturday despite suffering from a depressed fracture of the tibia.
Cole originally picked up the injury in the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid last month and required a pain-killing injection to take on Manchester United before the international break.
However, Cole has been training normally with Chelsea this week and has been made a protective shinpad to wear in matches.
"I started training for the last two or three days and I'm feeling better," Cole told Sky Sports News.
"I've had a special shinpad made for my shin and hopefully I'll be selected for Saturday.
"I've had a week's rest now, so it feels a little bit better and I've got to wear a shinpad to cover the knock.
"I've been playing with it and it did affect me a bit, but now I'm over it and I hope the shinpad can help.
"Hopefully, I'll be in the squad or the team on Saturday."
Meanwhile, Chelsea captain John Terry also took part in training on Wednesday after being forced to sit out England's defeat by Brazil due to a minor injury.
And a quick word on Fulham. It's believed that Danny Murphy should be fit for the game with Birmingham this weekend having missed the last five games with a knee injury.
Week 12 will be Round 2 of The Blog Cup, in which 200 people remain. There is an international break first, so you have plenty of time to think about your team, but it's interesting to note that it's a double week for 4 team so keep that in mind for the barndoor.So what's changed in the 2 weeks since I posted this? Well - loads of injuries, including significant ones to Lampard, Drogba & Arsenal's entire squad including Van Persie. However, I still fancy the same teams to rack the points up this weekend. As I said yesterday I only have an hour to write this due to work commitments & a broken laptop, so here goes...
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Birmingham v Fulham, 15:00
Burnley v Aston Villa, 15:00
Chelsea v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Hull v West Ham, 15:00
Liverpool v Man City, 12:45
Man Utd v Everton, 17:30
Sunderland v Arsenal, 15:00
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Bolton v Blackburn, 13:30
Stoke v Portsmouth, 16:00
Tottenham v Wigan, 15:00
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Fulham v Blackburn, 20:00
Hull v Everton, 19:45
Double teams: Hull (2 decent home games), Fulham (1 away, 1 home), Blackburn (2 away), Everton (2 away).
Other decent fixtures - Chelsea home to Wolves, Man United home to Everton, Spurs home to Wigan, Stoke home to Portsmouth, Arsenal at Sunderland.
Sounds as if Dimi Berbatov's knee injury is more serious than first suspected.Now - I'm having real problems this week as I'm away with work AND my laptop is broken, making it almost impossible to write my usual weekly posts (never mind pick my team!). I'm going to try & write my Week 12 Player Picks in my lunch break tomorrow but it won't be extensive as usual, so any help our regular readers can provide in the comments/chat forum would be greatly appreciated this week.
The Manchester United striker has been struggling with the injury for a while, and it forced him to miss the recent defeat at Chelsea.
It's now been revealed that he is suffering from fluid on the knee and an operation is a possibility.
An 'Old Trafford insider' is quoted by The Sun as saying: "It is causing quite a bit of discomfort, which is worrying" while a concurring Independent declares, in rather greater depth, that 'the knock Dimitar Berbatov received in United's 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 31 October has exacerbated a fluid on the knee condition, which may require surgery. The striker is with the Bulgarian squad for tomorrow's friendly in Malta and may play a part, and there are hopes he might be nursed through his injury.'
Steven Gerrard has declared himself fit for Liverpool's must-not-lose fixture with Manchester City.
He's also admitted that he really shouldn't have played against Birmingham last week.
"I felt very tired after the game, as I wasn't really ready to return and I'd done very little training in the three weeks beforehand.
"It took me two or three days to recover from that game but I have spent the past week doing strengthening work and I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm looking forward to the weekend. There's no mental hurdle to cross. It's a case of so far so good and the aim now is to make sure I get a good week's training under my belt so I'm ready for the game with City."
Gerrard could be joined by Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson for that game.
Rafa Benitez says: "Agger is okay. He had a small problem with his back but he's training. It was a very good decision from Denmark's manager (to withdraw Agger) because he is much better now. I think he'll be okay for the weekend.
"Johnson has been training. Not full sessions, but training, so hopefully he'll be okay for the weekend too."
But the bad news for Pool is that David Ngog broke his nose whilst on France Under-21 duty. And no, he didn't do throwing it himself to the ground. The Daily Mail says that it actually happened when he was 'hit in the face by a ball during a training session on Sunday'.
But Benitez says: "We know Ngog has broken his nose but it's not serious. I am not sure yet because we haven't seen him but I think he'll be okay, it won't be serious."
Things are clearing up at Chelsea - with Ashley Cole coming through a training session on Monday that has been described as 'intense' by the Evening Standard.
There are still doubts over John Terry (ankle), Didier Drogba (rib) and Michael Ballack (knee), but none of the trio have been ruled out of the game against Wolves this weekend.
The number of Arsenal players currently injured is now up to 11 after Abou Diaby pulled out of the France squad for the second leg of their play-off against the Republic with Ireland.
It's not known yet how serious the injury is.
For the record, the other ten Arsenal players currently listed as crocked by the club are: Robin van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott, Denilson, Armand Traore, Gael Clichy, Lukasz Fabianski, Carlos Vela, Jack Wilshere and Johan Djourou.
If you select them in a 3-4-3 formation, you can make a pretty handy team out of that lot.
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,16989_5697361,00.html
The headline injury news from the international weekend is that Arsenal have a huge striker problem to contend with after Robin Van Persie was ruled out for at least a month - and most likely far longer than that - after rupturing ankle ligaments. With Theo Walcott a near-permament crock this year, Carlos Vela back on the sidelines, and Nicklas Bendtner undergoing a groin operation last week, it leaves Arsenal with just Eduardo to lead their attack. And how likely is it that he will manage to last even a few games before breaking down again?
But it's not just Arsenal who are fretting over the fitness of their star striker.
The Suns says that Chelsea, already rocked by the loss of Frank Lampard and the withdrawal of John Terry from England's friendly with Brazil, could be without Didier Drogba for three weeks with a broken rib.
'A scan carried out by the club showed Drogba suffered only bruising after clashing with United defender Jonny Evans. But SunSport can reveal a further X-ray done by Ivory Coast doctors confirmed the worst,' the newspaper reported at the weekend.
Quite how Evans escaped scrutiny over his challenge is, however, something no scan will be able to reveal.
In any case, the likelihood is that Chelsea will resume the league season next weekend without Drogba, Lampard, both of their first-choice full-backs, and possibly Terry as well. So it's probably just as well that their opponents next Saturday as one of the league's lesser lights in Wolves.
Now this sounds nasty. According to Germany coach Jogi Luuuuuurve, Chelsea's Teuton-in-chief Michael Ballack has a problem with his knee, and will therefore miss their game with Ivory Coast on Wednesday.
Luuuuuuurve said: "He has an infection in the back of the knee and there has been a reaction. After consultation with the doctors - I also spoke to Michael Ballack - I have decided that he will not play.
"He needs two or three days of rest. It makes no sense to take risks, also in terms of Chelsea as they have quite a few games leading up to Christmas and afterwards."
The weekend did, however, bring some good news on the injury front because..
Tottenham have scotched talk that Carlo Cudicini would never play football again following his road accident by predicting that the Italian will make a full comeback.
"Both specialists are extremely pleased with the result and expect a good recovery," Wayne Diesel, head of Spurs' medical services, told the club's official website. "Carlo is in a lot less discomfort and is in good spirits." Cudicini arrived at White Hart Lane in January following a decade at Chelsea and has made eight appearances to date.
Another man who might be slightly happier this morn is Alex Ferguson, assuming that the fitness of Dimitar Berbatov is something that makes him happy.
The Bulgarian star of the Godfather Part III has missed United's last two games with knee issues, but he now claims he has recovered fully and will play for his country this week.
"I received a kick in my knee during the Blackburn match and I needed some rest and some treatment, but I'm okay now and I'll play in Malta," Berbatov told the Bulgarian press, which obviously we're keen followers of.
The Bulgaria squad sounds like a dangerous place at the moment. Martin Petrov looks like he'll face a spell out after twanging his knee while on international duty.
He'll therefore miss the next couple of weeks for Manchester City, but given that he hasn't been in the team much lately, that won't be a crushing blow.
Back to Blighty now, and Steve Bruce is not the happiest of bunnies. Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon had his arm broken by an errant Jermain Defoe kick, and it looks like it will be next year before he's back.
Bruce said: "Craig's injury is the most disappointing thing to come out of the last couple of weeks.
"It looks as if it's going to be three months. We've not had much luck in that respect - that's two serious injuries in a month."
Cheers,
AM
Arsenal's Premier League title hopes suffered an enormous setback last night when striker Robin van Persie sustained a serious ankle injury in Holland's friendly international match against Italy in Pescara.Huge blow for the bloke & a major fantasy football asset gone but with Bendtner out too it surely makes Eduardo a fantastic option.
Van Persie was rushed to hospital after just 12 minutes of the game when he collapsed to the ground following a heavy challenge from Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.
Holland coach Bert van Marwijk said: 'I was shocked when I saw it. It doesn't look good. I feel very sad for Robin and Arsenal.'
Van Persie is expected to be examined in Amsterdam today by renowned ankle specialist Professor Niek van Dijk. The surgeon has previously treated Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Michael Owen.
A team doctor said he feared Van Persie had ruptured ligaments in his ankle, an injury that would keep him out for at least three months. But if further examination reveals the ankle is broken, the star could miss the rest of the season.
Van Persie has scored eight goals for Arsenal in this campaign and his impressive run of form - his goals have all come in the last 11 matches - has prompted many observers to cite Arsenal, currently in second place behind Chelsea, as title favourites. But that dream looked in ruins when the striker screamed in agony as he was carried from the pitch on a stretcher.
The loss of Van Persie will be a bitter blow to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who has had to bear the brunt of criticism while waiting for five years of rebuilding his team to bear fruit. Only two weeks ago Wenger revealed how much he dislikes November because it always seems to bring injuries.
His complaint came after he lost left-back Gael Clichy with a back injury, while Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner also picked up knocks. Now van Persie's setback will confirm the Frenchman's worst fears about this period.
The 26-year-old's injury is also a major blow for Holland just seven months before the start of the World Cup.
