EPL: 5 players who've made big impacts this season

The following article is about players who this time last year were hardly household names but based on this season's performances they have become vital for the success of their respective clubs. So here goes...

Jack Wilshere: Widely considered one of Arsenal's most exciting young talents for many years, 2010/11 has proven to be a stellar season for 19 year-old Jack Wilshere. Last season the youngster had very limited amount of games for the Gunners so Arséne Wenger decided to put Wilshere on loan at Bolton from January to the end of the season. A few magnificent performances for Bolton and a summer of rest later, Wilshere is now a key player in the Arsenal squad. His meteoric rise to becoming a top European footballer was confirmed after a superb showing in Arsenal's 2-1 victory at home to Barcelona where the youngster from Luton did'nt look at all out of place up against Xavi and Iniesta whom his playing style is extremely simular to. Unquestionably, Wilshere is one of the English game's most impressive young players.

Charlie Adam: When the Scot signed for Blackpool on a permanent deal (after a six month loan) in August 2009,  the footballing media barely reported it. 18 months later and league heavyweights such as Liverpool and Tottenham wanted to sign Adam. This is because Charlie Adam has shown incredible passing, determination and set-piece deliveries, qualities which gained Blackpool promotion to the last season and this season he has helped put Blackpool in 15th in the EPL this season which does'nt sound great but for the team everyone expected to go down, its pretty impressive stuff. Although many expect Adam to leave the seasiders' for a bigger EPL club in the summer, no one can question his determination to succeed.

Andy Carroll: Regularly referred to as "the old fashioned number nine", Andy Carroll's first full season in the EPL has been excellent. Many doubted whether he could produce the form that made him sighted as vastly responsible for Newcastle's promotion straight back to the EPL last season, but he has by scoring 11 goals in 24 games. After spending the season's first six months at Newcastle, Carroll then moved to Liverpool for an astonishing £35 million making him the eighth most expensive player ever. Not bad for a player who has only just turned 22.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez: Manchester Utd have an illustrious history of great, natural goalscorers Dennis Law, Andy Cole, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Dwight Yorke and Ruud Van Nistelrooy to name just a few and Hernandez after only a couple of months in England is the latest in that list. After spending his whole career at Chivas de Guadalajara, Hernandez signed for Man Utd in April 2010 in secret. His double against Stoke and then Wigan, his UCL goals against Valencia and Marseille (2) respctively as well as many more vital goals have given Hernandez rave reviews by the media, plaudits from none other than Zinedine Zidane and celebrity status back home in Mexico. Still only 22, Hernandez has a great future at Old Trafford.

Martin Kelly: My last choice may come as a bit of surprise to some of you but I think Martin Kelly's performances this season deserve a place on the list. The 20 year-old has managed to force who many consider to be the EPL's best right-back to left-back in order to make way for Kelly. A couple of impressive performances in the Europa League earlier in the season have helped Kelly prove to firstly Roy Hodgson and now Kenny Dalglish exactly why he deserves a place in Liverpool's starting XI every week. Kelly's season however is probably best known for his fantastic display in the 1-0 victory away to Chelsea where Liverpool's five-man defence frustrated Chelsea. More performances of such kind will surely earn Kelly an England senior call-up before long.

Hope you enjoyed the article and don't forget to leave a comment. ☺

Fernando Torres: When will he finally score?

In argubly the most publicised January transfer of the window, Fernando Torres completed his move from Liverpool to current champions Chelsea for a staggering £50 million. Six appearances later, despite his collosal price tag Torres has'nt scored a single goal.

                                                                               In all fairness to the 26 year-old Spaniard, he has worked hard for the team but bearing in mind this man is one of the most feared strikers in Europe thanks to his excellent goalscoring ratio at both Athletico Madrid and Liverpool not to mention his national team Spain, zero goals in six is dissapointing to say the least. The game that Torres had probably the most chances in his Chelsea career so far was probably away to Copenhagen when Copenhagen 'keeper Johan Wiland denied Torres on numerous occasions. Luckily that night, two goals from Frenchman Nicolas Anelka was enough to give Chelsea what was a comfortable 2-0 win in the Danish capital.
                                                                                                                     But what about in other matches such as when Chelsea visited Craven Cottage to face neighbours Fulham when a stunning pass from David Luiz found Torres but the Spaniard fluffed his lines and lost control of the ball. Chelsea went on to draw 0-0. One must believe that the Torres of Liverpool in 2008/09 would have buried such a chance.

In some games, most notably on Torres' debut which was ironically against his former club Liverpool, Chelsea's midfielders did'nt provide good enough service so the lack of goals is'nt only Torres' fault but he can't be satisfied with his start to life in west London. On Wednesday night, in the 2nd leg against Copenhagen at Stamford Bridge it was trusted 33 year-old striker Didier Drogba who started, while Torres was left on the bench but came on after sixty-eight minutes but yet again failed to score. As expected, Chelsea advanced to the quarter-finals of the UCL where they now face Manchester Utd, but you must ask yourself how much longer can Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti keep playing a misfiring striker, no matter what his potential?

My FA cup quarter-final predictions

This weekend will host the 2010/11 season FA cup quarter finals. There are many intriguing games, but the highlight game has got to be at Old Trafford where England's top two teams, Manchester United and Arsenal battle for a place in the FA cup semi-final.

Carlos Tevez (left) will be looking to fire Manchester City into one of the two FA cup semi-finals at Wembley.









My predictions:

Birmingham city vs Bolton Wanderers

A tremendous league cup final triumph against Arsenal was fantastic for the blues but their league form has put all the hysteria around St Andrews on hold. Bolton have had an impressive season under Owen Coyle and Europa League football may be a little more than a dream now for trotters' fans. A win here would surely only confirm a wonderful season for a side that were nearly relegated last season.

My prediction:
Birmingham 1-1 Bolton

Manchester Utd vs Arsenal

The Epl's two main title contenders have both had dissapointing results lately with Utd losing their last two and Arsenal being dumped out of the UCL by Barcelona. Utd have Ferdinand, Park, Nani and Valencia out and may rest some players in order to have a fully fit squad for their UCL match against Marseille in mid-week. Arsenal have Song and Fabregas injured but, Arsene Wenger has admitted this game is huge.

My prediction:
Manchester Utd 1-1 Arsenal

Stoke vs West Ham

West Ham and their attackers have been on fire lately and a victory here could mean a second semi-final this season. Stoke meanwhile have been at their physical best in the FA cup so far and their fans would love to make their first FA cup semi-final since 1972.

My prediction:
Stoke 2-1 West Ham

Manchester City vs Reading

Despite becoming one of the richest clubs in the world in August 2008, Manchester City have'nt won a trophy since 1976 (a fact Manchester Utd fans' are more than happy to point out) and Roberto Mancini's side are attempting to break that un-favorable record this season. On paper they're the most likely team to progress to the semi-final out of all the remaining teams in the cup but anything can happen in the cup as the saying goes, and after all Reading did beat Liverpool last year.

My prediction:

Man. City 3-1 Reading

I hope you enjoyed this blog and don't forget to comment on who you think is going to win the FA cup.

the world football (soccer) chat: Italian football's sad state of decline

the world football (soccer) chat: Italian football's sad state of decline: "Hello soccer fans of the world! This is my first blog so forgive me if it's a little different to what you're used to but here goes. This w..."

Italian football's sad state of decline

Hello soccer fans of the world! This is my first blog so forgive me if it's a little different to what you're used to but here goes.

This week has seen two Italian clubs exit at a fairly early stage from the world's most prestigous club competition, the UEFA Champions League. One of those clubs, Roma lost their first match 3-2 at home to one of the competition's less favoured teams, Shakhtar Donetsk. As mesmorising as Shakhtar were on the night, Roma were terrible in what was a nearly empty, Stadio Olimpico. The following night, AC Milan were humilaited in front of their own fans against an injury-stricken Tottenham Hotspur, who probably could have won more than 1-0. The week after Roma and AC Milan lost their first leg matches, the trophy's holders Inter Milan were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich at the San Siro.
                                                                                                 This week, both Milan and Roma had uphill tasks when they travelled away to both London and Donetsk respectively. Roma needed to win by at least two goals or if they required away goals win 4-3. After an impressive start by Vincenzo Montella's team (Montella took over from Claudio Ranieri after the first game) Shakhtar comfortably ran out 3-0 winners to knock Roma out. On Wednesday, Italian league leaders Milan simply could'nt find a way past the Premier league's 5th place Spurs' defence and they crashed out. But is that how big the gap between Europe's top leagues and Italy's Serie A is? So big, that an EPL team that may not even be in the UCL next year can beat the best team in Italy?  Certainly a long way away from one of my earliest footballing memories when I was six when AC Milan beat fellow Italians Juventus in the 2003 Champions league final. Inter Milan will be considered as the underdogs when they travel to Munich next week and may be playing for Italian football's pride aswell as their own.

What are your opinions on Italian football? Give your answers in the comment section below!