Van Persie out for six weeks

Good news from the bad news for Arsenal fans. Robin van Persie, striker for Arsenal and Netherlands, got injured during the international friendly match against Italy on the weekend. He only lasted 15 minutes in the game, since the tackle from Italy defender Giorgio Chiellni forced him to be out on the pitch. He suffered teared ligament on his right ankle.

It was first reported that van Persie maybe out for the remainder of the season or at least three months. But, it turned out that he will be out for four to six weeks. This means that he will be back in next January, the second half of the season.

However, it is still a huge loss for Arsenal. In fact, Arsenal already lost Danish striker, Nicklas Bendtner for two weeks. Croatian striker Eduardo and Mexican prodigy, Carlos Vera will be the only attacking option for them. But I am not sure that these players can fill the gap. So far, van Persie has marked incredible stats in this season: 7 goals and 7 assists in 11 league games. One attacking points per game shows that his contribution to the team is huge.

To tell the truth, van Persie is already known for ‘injury-prone’ among football fans. This season, again, injury has come to bother him. However, statistics show that whenever he is healthy, he can make goals and assists. I do not know exactly when he will return, but I am sure that Arsenal will play more dynamic and exciting game with Robin van Persie.

 

Robinho to FC Barcelona??

There was a constant rumor that Brazilian footballer Robinho will join Spanish giant FC Barcelona, but looks like this rumor will become a true story. Spanish sport media are now reporting that Barcelona reached agreement with Robinho.  However, the deal is not confirmed since Barcelona wants long time loan before the transfer, and Robinho wants the permanent transfer in January.

Robinho, who moved from Real Madrid to Manchester City for a British record 32.5 million pounds, is current recovering from injury, but his addition on Barcelona squad will certainly make the team stronger. If Robinho comes to Barcelona, he will replace injury struggling Thierry Henry. Robinho, who is familiar in playing left side wing foward, will play upfront  with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi which will probably consists the best attacking line up in the world.

There are also reports that Manchester City is  already looking for a replacement for Robinho and looks like Franck Ribery, a French football star, is their first target. It will be interesting to check the final destination of two monster footballers – Robinho and Ribery –  in the January transfer market.

 

Rise of Blue Dragon

Chung-Yong Lee, whose first name sounds same as ‘Blue Dragon’ in Korean, scored his debut goal in last week’s English Premier League. In fact, his goal was the match winner which lead Bolton Wanderers to win over Birmingham on their soil by 2-1. This 21-year-old right winger, who joined Bolton in this summer from FC Seoul, is getting lot of media attention after the goal. In fact, ESPN included Chung-Yong Lee to their Team of the Week selection (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=680249&sec=england&root=england&cc=5901)

Personally, as a Korean, I’m really proud and excited to hear the news. Since I was one of the skeptics who was not really sure about Lee’s adaptation to English football, I’m actually surprised with Lee’s recent plays. He assisted the goal on last Tuesday’s game against West Ham United, and now he scored a wonderful goal. It is also a good to know that Bolton manager Gary Megson has expressed good expectations on Lee as well. (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5585444,00.html)

Some Koreans say that it’s just a matter of time for Lee to be a starting member in Bolton. However, we should remember this is just the beginning of his career. Looking into the history of Korean premier leaguers, many Korean players (Dong-Guk Lee, Do-Heon Kim etc) have shown some good impact on their first two games, but they have gradually lost their positions and eventually kicked out from the league. It is too early to judge his success in EPL at this moment.

But I’m not saying that he does not have potential to become a star. He is young and now learning and playing in one of the most competitive league in the world. And as Megson said, he is a “brainy player.” Without injuries and successful adaptation in foreign culture, he will make bigger impact. Manchester United’s Ji-Sung Park is the most notable Korean football player in England right now, but let’s also keep an eye on  Chung-Yong Lee. The Blue Dragon will rise high someday.

 

Cruising Chelsea

Manchester derby was the highlight of  last week’s English Premier League, but let’s not forget that Chelsea FC is still on the perfect start. They have won all 6 games since the season started.  There is no draw at all.

I have to praise that this is the ability of Chelsea’s new coach, Carlo Ancelotti. 50-year-old Italian had upgraded this club to win the championship title again since Jose Mourinho, currently Inter Milan coach, had left the club.  Ancelotti, who moved from AC Milan after winning Champions League and Italian league title, is the coach who can handle big teams and big players. His style of football maximizes the Chelsea’s potential. His arrival to Chelsea was already a win-win start for both sides.

Then where does this good start comes from? Compare to last season, there is a big difference with tactics. Ancelotti abandoned wing-forward based 4-3-3 formation. Instead, he started to adopt his familiar style of football, 4-3-1-2 formation which he dominated European football world with AC Milan. One of the Chelsea’s forte is having a powerful and skillful center midfielders and fast wing-backs. It just makes me to think that Ancelotti just knows how to use his resources.

In this perfect start, not only fans, but also player are getting confident and enjoying themselves as well. (check the link) The team chemistry is getting stronger and stronger. Some say that Chelsea haven’t challenged with real competitive teams. But in this situation, looks like they can beat anybody.

Chelsea will face ‘real test’ in next october against Liverpool FC. If they can beat Liverpool as well, then I guess people will notice its strength. Remember, Chelsea is a totally different team than it was in the last season.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/22/chelsea-nicolas-anelka-michael-ballack

 

Adebayor controversy

Last week’s English Premier League was all about Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor. The 25-year-old Togolese striker scored header against his former team, Arsenal and lead Manchester City to win the game 4-2. The problem is that he rushed over 100 yards to celebrate his goal ceremony in front of Arsenal fans, which almost caused riot.  Before that provocative behavior, Adebayor stamped on his former teammate, Robin van Persie, causing him a small injury which also was not a professional behavior. It was perfect impression to Arsenal fans that Adebayor is not a friend anymore, but a malicious foe.

In fact, Adebayor was booked a yellow card for the goal ceremony, but looks like the result of his mistake is going to be more harsh. Despite his apology after the game, he will not be able to be free from the suspension. Football Association, organization that manages all the football actions in England, already confirmed that they will investigate this matter. If banned, Adebayor will miss a game against derby rivals Manchester United which is a huge loss to Manchester City.

We all know that goal ceremony is the important part of the football game. It is exciting to watch a goal ceremony, because it makes fans and teams energized. But Adebayor’s goal ceremony was just a provocative and reckless behavior. Since he is a professional footballer, he should have managed his behavior more carefully. There was lack of respect for teams and fans. He could have made the team’s victory more gracious and meaningful. However, what he left is his notorious image among players and fans, Manchester City’s woe for the derby game, and damaging the beauty of the goal ceremony.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/13/emmanuel-adebayor-manchester-city-arsenal