footballphilosophy.net – Page 3 – Football Philosophy

Huddersfield’s promotion story

Huddersfield secured promotion via the play-offs in a nervy style as they beat Reading on penalties. Here is a summing-up of their very successful season.

Huddersfield had finished 19th, 17th, 16th and 19th in their previous four seasons since getting promoted to the Championship.

With the club in need of change, they sacked Chris Powell and appointed David Wagner before the 2015/2016 season in the hope that he could turn around the situation at the club.

Image result for david wagner — Wagner came in from Dortmund to work as Huddersfield’s boss.

His first season was unsuccessful as he led the Terriers to a 19th place finish.

The German made a huge statement to the club and the league as he started his second season off in style by going six games unbeaten, a big change from last season, when they didn’t win a single game within that same period.

Despite their good opening few games, some runs of bad form made them drop down a few places in the league.

In the January transfer window, Huddersfield didn’t buy many players, however, Isiah Brown was one of them, a winger who played a big part in their promotion.

The club finished 5th, inside the play-off positions.

They won their semi-final across two legs against Sheffield Wednesday and progressed to the final along with Reading.

Tensions were high as both clubs knew the importance of this game.

It went into extra-time, then penalties.

The nail-biting shoot-out ended 4-3 to Huddersfield and the whole crowd and players went mad because they were going to play Premier League football next season.

Dominant Arsenal win FA Cup final against dreadful Chelsea

Arsenal won the FA Cup in an all-London derby against a disappointing Chelsea team.

Arsenal got an early lead thanks to Alexis Sanchez’s goal inside five minutes. Chelsea’s fans and players appealed against the goal after the ball had hit Sanchez’s hand in the build-up, but Anthony Taylor was unmoved. Initially the goal had been ruled out for offside, however, when Taylor had a word with the linesman, he correctly told him that although Ramsay was offside, he didn’t actually touch the ball and the goal was given.

Chelsea looked like a completely different team to the one we saw this season as Arsenal had chance after chance with Chelsea still struggling to get into the game.

Sanchez was really running the show as the Gunners went into half-time happy.

The next bit of drama was Moses’ red card… the Nigerian ran into the box and dived. The ref gave him a yellow and his FA Cup final was over.

Diego Costa’s deflected goal got Chelsea back on track, but Arsenal struck back with a goal a few minutes later.

Substitute Giroud sent in a hopeful cross which Aaron Ramsey turned into the net and got Arsenal celebrating again.

Image result for aaron ramsey 2017 fa cup final — Delighted: Ramsey after his winning goal.

The Welshman has already scored a winner in an FA Cup final, and was one of Arsenal’s best players in the game.

This victory was rather unexpected since Arsenal played the game without three of their best defenders, Mustafi, Koscielny and Gabriel, but Mertesacker and Holding deputised well and were solid.

Arsenal vs Chelsea: FA Cup final Preview

Predicted line ups

Chelsea: Courtois, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Kante, Matic, Moses, Pedro, Costa, Hazard

Arsenal: Cech, Monreal, Holding, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsay, Sanchez, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck

Star Man

Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez

Chelsea: Eden Hazard

Stats

Arsenal would become the FA Cup’s most frequent winners on thirteen if they beat Chelsea.

Chelsea have won just one of the previous eight FA Cup ties against Arsenal.

Arsenal are unbeaten in their last seven matches at Wembley Stadium.

The last time these two teams met was in a 3-1 Chelsea win this season.

Verdict

Because Arsenal missed out on a place in the top four, they will be desperate to get a win here to make their season just a bit less miserable and I think for that reason it will spur them on to victory. Also, Chelsea have just won the league, meaning that if they don’t win here their season won’t be a disappointment in any way, which could make them be off the hook a bit tommorrow.

Manchester United win Europa League to save season

Manchester United beat Ajax 2-0 in the Europa League final after goals from Pogba and Mkhitaryan.

United were hyped up about the fixture, and started well with a very organised team.

It only took eighteen minutes for United to predictably break the deadlock and happened when Paul Pogba found himself in acres of space outside the box. He took a shot, but it got deflected and looped into the net leaving keeper Onana with no chance.

The Frenchman celebrated wildly along with his team-mates, relieved to come up with a goal as big as this one after making a record signing this summer and not impressing much since.

Image result for pogba vs ajax — Relieved: Pogba.

United went into half-time comfortably, confident of victory.

The English side looked like winners right from the half-time kick off and Mkhitaryan just about confirmed they were that after turning in Smalling’s flick.

Ajax showed no sign of posing any major attacking threat and their play going forward was very predictable with no width and pointless passes through the middle. United maintained their lead until the end and a trophy ceremony followed.

Wayne Rooney got put on at the end along with Martial and Lingard, in what could be his last game for United in a very memorable career.

This Europa League victory was not just about what happened on the pitch, but for the terrible attack in Manchester at a singer’s concert and a minute’s silence was held before the game.

This win means that United will be in the Champions League next season along with Mourinho’s pride of winning two trophies in his first season.

My top three Premier League players of the season

After an exciting 2016/2017, here are three of my standout players from the season.

1. Harry Kane, Tottenham

Once again Kane delivered and although he couldn’t fire Tottenham to the title he was electrifying throughout this year. The striker scored twenty-nine goals even though he was injured for quite a bit of time and won the Golden Boot, making him join Premier League legends as players who have won the award on multiple occasions. The Englishman has delivered a message to people that he will be one of the league’s best players for a long time and that he wasn’t just a one-season wonder.

2. N’Golo Kante

Kante is an absolutely brilliant player, but doesn’t grab the headlines. He works extremely hard and wins the ball back a lot. He has helped Chelsea massively and they might not have won the title without him. The Frenchman has now won the title in two successive seasons and I’m sure his exceptional form has got some European clubs interested in buying him.

Image result for kante — Kante is a workaholic in midfield.

3. Alexis Sanchez

Although Arsenal’s season was disappointing, Sanchez was their bright spark. He scored twenty-four goals and got ten assists, which makes him joint top in the combined race of both stats. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Sanchez could be leaving the club this summer after a few top teams may try to lure him away from the Emirates.

Why I think Mazzari’s sacking is the wrong decision

Walter Mazzarri has been sacked by Watford, and will end his stay at the Hornets on the final day of the season. The owners, the Pozzo family, have a history of sacking managers frequently and the next boss will be the ninth in five years.

Mazzarri has been at the club for just one season after taking over from the harshly sacked Quique Sanchez Flores.

Watford have lost their last five games and are currently 16th, six points off relegation.

However, I still don’t think Mazzarri should have been sacked.

Watford have shown some signs of promise, and your team has to have a fair bit of talent to be able to beat big teams like Arsenal and Manchester United.

Also, if Watford are going to progress as a club they’re going to have to stop changing manager and try to recruit better ones too, so they don’t have to sack them so frequently.

If this roller-coaster of managers is not going to end then Watford’s league position is definitely not going to improve.

A Chelsea legend: Terry’s best moments

Since John Terry, a faithful legend for Chelsea, will be leaving the club after nineteen successful years this season here are a few of his best moments.

First Premier League title win, 2005

Terry won his first Premier League title in 2005 and this trophy was just a starter of the ones he would pick up as he went on to win it four more times.

PFA Player of the Year, 2005

In the same season he won the league, Terry won the PFA Player of the Year, one of the very few defenders to win the prestigious award. He also scored eight goals throughout that year and his goal against Barcelona in the Champions League is famed.

Champions League win, 2012

After missing a penalty which would’ve made Chelsea win the trophy in the 2008 Champions League final he went on to finally win the competition in 2012. However, though he played a vital part in most of the campaign, he had to sit out in the final due to a ban.

Another FA Cup, 2012

Terry won the FA Cup for a 5th time in 2012 and led the team to victory in Wembley against Liverpool.

The Premier League round-up; Chelsea clinch the title, Palace send Hull down

Chelsea won the title on Friday after beating West Brom 1-0. The London side were frustrated by the resilient and organised Baggies, who have nothing much to play for this season. It was looking like Chelsea would have to wait for Monday’s clash against Watford to get their hands on the trophy, but luckily for them Batshuayi rescued them. Azpilicueta fired a cross which the Belgian got on the end of to slide it past Foster and win Chelsea the league, a thing that they thoroughly deserve after being excellent all season.

Moving on, Manchester City beat Leicester 2-1 amid controversial circumstances. Silva opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner after receiving Leroy Sane’s cutback. Gabriel Jesus added another with a tentative penalty, a goal which makes his City record five goals in nine games. A big moment of controversy late in the second half followed. Mahrez was awarded a penalty after he was brought down by Clichy and after Okazaki’s goal Leicester would have drawn if he had scored. Unfortunately for the Foxes, he slipped when taking and the ball flew in. However when he fell he hit the ball twice and the goal was correctly ruled out.

Image result for mahrez penalty — Mahrez protests after his goal is ruled out, but Bobby Madley correctly indicates here that he touched the ball twice.

Also, Crystal Palace sent Hull down to the Championship with a 4-0 win and guaranteed their status in the Premier League for another year. Zaha scored early on after some poor Hull defending and Benteke scored again in the 34th minute, his fifteenth goal of the Premier League 2016/2017 season. Milivojevic sealed victory with a strike late on and van Aanholt just made the score even more embarrassing for Hull

Lastly, Tottenham ended their 118-year stay at White Hart Lane in style as they beat Manchester United 2-1. Wanyama got the crowd and Spurs’ confidence levels going with a goal early in the much hyped fixture. Kane doubled the scoreline with a goal which showed his quality and keeps the pressure on Lukaku in the battle for the golden boot. Rooney gave United hope in the 71th minute, but the last game at the Lane ended in joy and happiness all around.

United hang on to claim a place in the Europa League final

United maintained their lead at the end of the game, meaning they are through to the final.

Celta Vigo started very brightly with former Liverpool failure, Iago Aspas causing problems for United down the right side and pulling off a curling effort which had to be saved by Sergio Romero.

However, United kept believing and scored when Marcus Rashford floated a cross in, which Fellaini diverted to Alvarez’s post, a saveable effort which the keeper made a mess of – and granted Fellaini with his first goal in European football.

Image result for fellaini — Fellaini’s height gets him lots of headed goals, like the one last night.

With Celta Vigo definitely in need of a goal, their manager, Eduardo Berizzo sent on Jozabed, a Fulham player on loan, who impressed in the second half and came close with a long-range effort.

The Spanish side were building attacks well, but couldn’t find a breakthrough until Roncaglia fired a header out of Romero’s reach with six minutes to go and suddenly there was still hope for Vigo.

A massive brawl at the end highlighted United’s frustration about the goal, and in the mess Bailly and the goalscorer, Roncaglia both got red cards and there were a few players who were lucky they didn’t get disciplined too.

United managed to hang on, and when Guidetti couldn’t sort his feet out to guide the ball into an unguarded net with six seconds to go, it surely made both pair of fans and players miss a beat.

United will now play Ajax in the final on the 24th of May and hope to win the Europa League for the first time in their history

How this season has been for the Premier League’s biggest summer signings

There were a few big summer transfers and this is how they’ve fared this season.

Paul Pogba, Manchester United

Pogba’s huge transfer fee meant that he had high expectations from United and although the midfielder has potential, this season has been a disappointment for him. The young Frenchman played a lot at the start of 2016/2017, but his average form has got him dropped in the previous few games and he’ll have to do better next season to live up to the hype.

Leroy Sane, Manchester City

Unlike Pogba, Sane didn’t start the season very well and a few injuries didn’t help either. However, Sane has played a lot more recently and is explosive on the wing, especially when playing with fellow youngster Raheem Sterling.

Sadio Mane, Liverpool

Mane has been excellent since signing and has scored thirteen goals and five assists this season in an unstoppable Liverpool attack. Unfortunately the Senegalese forward has had his end of season ruined with an injury, but we’ll hope to see him back in action on pre-season tour.

Image result for mane 2017 — Mane has been a wonderful addition to the Liverpool squad.

N’Golo Kante, Chelsea

Kante has been immense every moment of 2016/2017, and has repeatedly performed two seasons running. The Frenchman definitely deserves the PFA Player of the Year award.

Moussa Sissoko, Spurs

After being excellent for Newcastle last season Spurs signed Sissoko up. However the winger has been a huge disappointment and has not even scored for them in any competition.