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Football News: Leicester City are living the dream but Bayern Munich are shocked by a defeat

Leicester City are living the dream but Bayern Munich are shocked by a defeat
Image from: burtonmail.co.uk

1. £29m offer rejected for Terry
Back in 2009 Manchester City made a £29m offer for Chelsea defender John Terry, which was rejected out of hand. While he may not be at his best this season, he has been the rock on which Chelsea's recent success has been built, so it, superficially, seems like a good idea for Man City to bid for him. They struggled defensively, desperately in need of a partner for Vincent Kompany, someone who could lead when he is absent. Terry provides that for Chelsea, but he is unlikely to do so for someone else. It has always been clear that his game for Chelsea was a level above his performances for England, that he was driven by his love for the club to perform at his absolute best. It is typical of the shortsighted signing policy that has hindered Citeh, who should be light years ahead of the rest of the Premier League, but always struggle to build on their successes. Spending £29m on a player who, not just lacks pace so would not suit their style of play, but is clearly not going to be quite as good for them as he plays for Chelsea, is just pointless. Their spending is so uncoordinated and lacks forethought and planning, and it is that which gives the rest of a league a chance to compete, and why they fail in Europe year after year. They desperately need to rethink that they are doing.

2. The S*n is full of something brown and smelly once again
Al Jazira have laughed off reports in that particular rag, regarding their 'pursuit' of Harry Redknapp to become their new manager. There was clearly never any truth in that nonsense piece of gutter 'journalism'. Redknapp has, many times, made it clear he would not move from his home on Sandbanks in Poole. Obviously all it needs for the S*n to make up their 'news' is for someone to go on holiday to the same area as the club in question, because Redknapp does regularly spend his vacation in Dubai, so it is obvious he must be close to taking over at a team in the UAE. Yet people still read their crap, when will they learn?

 

3. Henderson faces long term issues
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has missed three months of the season due to an achilles injury, and now there are fears over his long term health. Sadly it seems the England international will now face a future of pain, as the injury has been reported as incurable. While there have been many players that have gone on to have lengthy and excellent careers with incurable injuries, such as Paul McGrath and Ledley King, the way Henderson plays may mean this could sadly affect him. The Liverpool skipper's game is based on hard work and effort, getting up and down the pitch constantly. Will he still be able to do so while carrying a constant pain in his ankle? Worse it might affect his training, in which case his basic fitness, which might curtail those lung bursting runs from deep that are so crucial to his game.

4. Beckham's Miami project takes another step forward
Finally it looks like David Beckham's Miami MLS franchise will happen, after all the hold ups and setbacks, particularly in relation to finding a plot of land to build a stadium for the team to play in. Finally a plot of land has been found and the conglomerate of investors are just awaiting the MLS's approval to proceed. They are now back on course to become the 24th team in the MLS, joining in 2018, despite Sacramento Republic's attempts to leapfrog them.

 

5. Wenger is turning into my mother
While he may not have, yet anyway, told his players not to come running to him if they fall out of that tree and broken their legs, he has learnt to exaggerate like me mam did when I was in trouble. Every time she used to tell me off, she would claim to have told me a million times before, even if it was the first time it had been mentioned and the slightest thing 'could have killed someone'. Pillow fights, climbing fences, anything could kill someone according to me mam. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger obviously listened far too closely to his mother, when he was getting told off as a kid, because of his rant over Alexis Sanchez being pushed. According to Wenger, Ryan Bennett could have killed him. I am just amazed he saw anything!

6. McClaren's confidence is overwhelming
Steve McClaren used the word confidence 34 times in his pre-match press conference this week. Just a shame he failed to use his Dutch accent while doing so. It is clear he feels that confidence is lacking, which is why he uses Steve Black to give team talks prior to a match. The issue is that Black's team talks stretch on for an hour. A whole hour of listening to a sports psychologist. It is no wonder the Newcastle United performances are so dire, the players are obviously half asleep after having to be woken up after the talk. They must be all bleary eyed and woolly headed as they stumble on to the pitch trying to wake up.

 

7. Foxes living the dream
Leicester City will be on top of the league after this round of matches in the Premier League, even though Jamie Vardy, for once, failed to score for them. This time a hat trick from their other stand out star, Riyad Mahrez, was enough to seal victory over a struggling Swansea City side. How much longer can the dream last? Will their bubble burst when they face the 'big' sides, or do they have enough quality to maintain a place in the title race? A lot will depend on injuries and form, they do not have the depth to come in, if injuries hit their main players. Claudio Ranieri's most important job will be to keep Vardy and Mahrez fit and fresh for the rest of the season.

8. Man City are very Jekyll and Hyde
Fortunately for Stoke City, Mr Hyde turned up to the Britannia Stadium as Stoke got a deserved 2-0 win over a Manchester City side that looked more like a relegation battler than a title challenger. Marco Arnautovic scored twice in what was an excellent performance by the Potteries side. The return of David Silva was supposed to inspire the Citizens, but he was very out of sorts and offered little. Without Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure Man City looked a very poor side, despite the expensive additions of Raheem Sterling, Wilfried Bony and Kevin de Bruyne all playing. Their inconsistency will cost them the league if they are not careful.

 

9. Bayern Munich are human after all
The shock result of the weekend was the one that saw runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were beaten 3-1 by bottom of the table Borussia Monchengladbach. I guess it is just a sign that they feel the title is already won, which it pretty much is, but I am sure Pep Guardiola will be furious anyway.

10. Bolton are in danger of losing touch at the bottom
In the English Championship, Bolton Wanderers are struggling to survive on more than one front. Struggling to pay wages and keep the club afloat off the pitch, struggling to stay within touching distance at the bottom of the division on the pitch. Neil Lennon must be regretting his decision to leave Celtic, as the offers he was hoping for were not forthcoming.

Written by Tris Burke December 05 2015 19:02:27