Arsene Wenger says he agrees with Theo Walcott’s assertion that his Arsenal players “don’t believe they are good enough”, and wonders whether all the negativity around the team is affecting the squad.
• Blog: Is it all in their heads?
Walcott questioned whether the side have a psychological issue after the latest first-half capitulation against a big team, this time in the 2-1 defeat away to Chelsea on Sunday. The Arsenal manager, however, could only concur.
“I agree with him,” Wenger said. “The players come out and think ‘we could have done better’. But when you look at the first half we lost goals we shouldn’t lose, 50/50s you cannot lose in big games. You can say what you want but you have to go with a mentality in big games based on belief and total commitment.
“You can always find explanations but at the end of the day you turn up and you play with full power. Is the repeated sceptical attitude of the people around us affecting the belief of the players? I don’t know. But we have to raise beyond that and take that as a challenge. (more…)
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 | Categories: football, sport | Tags: player | Leave a comment
José Mourinho is a Portuguese football coach who now coaches Real Madrid. According to numerous pundits, footballers and coaches, he is one of the greatest coaches in modern football.
José began his football career as a player but due to various circumstances he chose the position of a coach. Mourinho began as an assistant coach in Benfica. He also worked in Sporting and Porto and afterwards – in Barcelona.
In 2000, he was appointed head coach of Benfica. In 3 months he joined Leiria to lead the team to the 5th place in Primeira Liga. In 2002, he signed a 3-year contract with Porto and won the national championship, Taça de Portugal and the UEFA Cup in his first year. And in the next season Mourinho also won the UEFA Champions League.
2004 was remarkable for Chelsea FC due to signing of a new coach and in almost 3 years of work he won the Premier League twice and the Football League Cup complemented by the English FA Cup which became the team’s first in 50 years.
In the middle of 2008, Mourinho joined FC Internazionale and led the club to victory in Serie A in his first season and next year he won the first ever ‘treble’ for the Italian football with the Italian championship, Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League. This victory was the first one for the club in last 45 years and Mourinho became the third coach ever to win two UEFA Champions League titles with two different teams. In 2010, Mourinho became FIFA World Coach of the Year.
In 2010, he was appointed head coach of Real Madrid CF. In his first managerial year they won Copa del Rey – the first one in 18 years. And it was coaching Real Madrid that made him the first coach to be in the UEFA Champions League semifinals with 4 different teams.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 | Categories: Club, football, sport | Tags: coach | Leave a comment
The history of Wembley stadium is one that will remain close to the heart of proud English men and women for thousands of years. Wembley has played host to hundreds of legendary sporting events over the years, and the new Wembley will do so for years to come. In this guide, we will explore just a small section of the history of one of the most historic monuments in the world.
As many of you will be aware, Wembley is the home of English football and all major domestic football and Rugby finals. Aside from football, Wembley plays host to other entertainment events on various days throughout the year, over the past couple of years some of the world’s finest bands and solo artists have played at Wembley Stadium. Currently there is a stadium tour in operation twice a day. This tour features all the new features of Wembley, and also details a lot of the history of the previous stadium.
History
The Wembley grounds are in Brent, London. Since 1880 there have been various sporting events held on the grounds, even though the first recognised stadium was not built until 1923. In 1880, Wembley had a mixture of both football and cricket pitches. In 1889 the chairman of the Metropolitan Railway decided to build a four legged tower at 350 metres high to generate revenue to the area. However, after a while, the project ran out of money, and at just 61 metres the building had to be deemed complete. This building was named the Watkins Folly (after the chairman of the metropolitan railway). This structure was destroyed in 1907, due to new plans to build a larger stadium.
After the end of the First World War, the government put a plan in place to build an exhibition that contained a sports centre as part of the area. At the time, the area was used as an 18 hole golf course.
The new stadium, (finished in 1923) was designed and completed for just £750,000, and was completed in a total of 300 days. Since 1923 until the stadium was pulled down in 2003, the stadium only went through minor developments, including instillation of floodlights in 1955, an electronic scoreboard and roof in 1963.
The old Wembley stadium was deemed too old fashioned by the FA after various meetings, and in the year 2000 the final decision was made to develop ‘new Wembley’.
The new Wembley was originally scheduled to be completed by 2003. However, due to delays; the stadium was not officially handed over until mid 2007. New Wembley boasts a large retractable roof, and the largest single arch in the world. Upon completion, the project cost just over £900 million, (double the original budget). The new stadium has areas dedicated to showing off the history of the Wembley site. The capacity of the new stadium is 90,000 (just 11,000 more than old Wembley), however, this does make it the second largest stadium in Europe.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5774182
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 | Categories: football, sport | Tags: stadium | Leave a comment
Soccer, or football as it is known every country but the United States, has a long and rich history that began somewhere in England back in the 1900s. While the sport is popular all over the world, the sport traces its’ roots back to England, which is often called the “home of football” because the first soccer leagues were started there, as well as the first official governing organization.
Many experts believe that football was played in some form or other before the 19th century, but the fact remains that there were no official rules until then. In 1863 the Football Association was established in England and they proceeded to hold meetings to come up with what would become the official rules that still hold true today. Games soon commenced using the new guidelines in 1864.
Every sport eventually needs a tournament, and football was no different. Just seven years after games started under the rules established by the Football Association, they started the FA Cup. This was at first a tournament that only featured amateur teams, but within a couple years it was expanded as soccer became more and more popular.
While the football season and tournament was still fairly disorganized, this all changed in 1888 when a football league was finally established. The original Football League had 12 clubs that played one game against each team at home and one at the visitor’s home. Teams got 1 point for a tie and two for a win. This was the first official league in the world, and soon it expanded into more divisions and teams all over England. (more…)
Sunday, January 13, 2013 | Categories: football, sport | Tags: Football, soccer | Leave a comment
Sparta & Athena 