Author: footballphilosophy.net

Who are the best players in the Chinese Super League 2017

As the Chinese Super League has just started here are some of the best players in the league.

Carlos Tevez, Shanghai Shenhua

Tevez moved from Boca Juniors this January to China and he’s rumoured to be the highest paid player in the world. The Argentine made his debut in the Chinese League on Sunday and he scored once and set up Giovanni Moreno for both of his goals. This is now Tevez’s seventh club he has played for, along with spells at Manchester United, West Ham and Juventus.

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Tevez is earning big money in China.

Hulk, Shanghai SIPG

Hulk is a burly centre forward who joined Shanghai SIPG this summer. Hulk was previously at Russian club, Zenit were he scored fifty six league goals in his four seasons there which is an impressive tally. Hulk has also enjoyed success internationally playing for Brazil and he’s scored eleven goals in forty seven appearances for them, he also made five starts in Brazil’s World Cup 2014 campaign.

Axel Witsel, Tianqin Quanjian

Witsel was very close to sealing a deal to Juventus, but the Belgian star said he made his decision to move to China this January because it was important for his family. Witsel was an important player in Zenit’s 2014/2015 league win and was one of Zenit’s best players when he played for them if not the best.

Oscar, Shanghai SIPG

Oscar was frustrated with the amount of playing time he was getting at Chelsea so he moved to China. Oscar marked his Chinese Super League debut with two assists and I’m sure that there’ll be many more because of the quality Oscar has. The Brazilian moved to Chelsea in 2012 and has had some great seasons there and considering the age he’s at, he could come back to Chelsea to ease off his career.

Premier League round up

The first game of the weekend was Bournemouth’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United. United went ahead in the game, but Bournemouth won a penalty, which Josh King smashed in the top corner to level the scoreline. A big talking point of the game was the stamp that Tyrone Mings gave to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which followed on from another moment in the game where Zlatan elbowed Mings. Both players could face retrospective bans.

Also on Saturday was Leicester’s 3-1 win over Hull where Leicester fought back from going 1-0 down with three goals. After that win Leicester are now 15th in the league, five points off the relegation zone and their interim manager, Craig Shakespeare will almost certainly be appointed permanent boss if his two wins out of two games form continues.

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Craig Shakespeare is on track with becoming the new Leicester boss.

The last game of Saturday was Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Arsenal. Liverpool were by far the better team in the first half scoring two goals, but in the second half, Arsenal scored on the 57th minute through a chip from Danny Welbeck. Arsenal couldn’t get the winner they needed and Liverpool scored on the counter in the last few minutes.

A game from Sunday was Tottenham versus Everton where Tottenham went ahead 2-0 through goals from the very much in-form Harry Kane. Later in the game Lukaku scored to give Everton hope, but Alli replied with a goal to give Tottenham the win.

Football Podcast with Kit- Sunday 5th March 2017

Down below you can listen to Kit and I preview the big Champions League and Europa League games which are happening this week, discuss Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, which Kit was evidently very happy about because he’s a Liverpool fan and lastly talk about some of the Premier League games which were played on Saturday.

Previews of the Premier League games which are taking place this weekend

Kicking off this Premier League weekend is Manchester United’s game against Bournemouth. Some big team news for the game is Luke Shaw’s return to the United squad after six games not taking part. A win for United would be very handy in their battle for the top four, but also Bournemouth need a win because they have crept down the table and they’re now four points off the relegation zone.

Also on Saturday, Liverpool take on Arsenal with both teams having had a very good start to the season, but have now dropped down the league a bit and Arsenal find themselves in 4th position while Liverpool are one position behind them in 5th place. A big boost for Arsenal and a disappointment for Liverpool is that both Henderson and Sturridge are out with injuries and Lovren could be missing even though he’s training with Liverpool.

Moving on to the next day, Tottenham clash with Everton at White Hart Lane. Spurs go into the game optimistic after thrashing Stoke last week, with Kane scoring a hat trick, his third treble of 2017 and England international, Dele Alli also getting on the score sheet. It may sound ridiculous from afar but if Everton win here and if you study the table, Everton could finish in the top four this season. But Spurs almost definitely will finish in Champions League places.

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The Everton defence will have a hard time stopping the in-form Harry Kane.

The last game of the weekend is Sunderland versus Manchester City. Both teams are separated by thirty three points and seventeen league positions, but all those facts don’t seem to matter in the Premier League; just take Swansea’s win over Liverpool as an example. City’s last game was a convincing victory over Huddersfield, but Sunderland are a better opposition than the Championship side and they’ve pulled off some shock results this season, so City can’t go into the game thinking they’re going to win easily.

How are some Premier League rejects faring in Europe

With there being many Premier League rejects playing for clubs in Europe I thought it would be a good idea to let the readers know how they’re doing.

Edin Dzeko, rejected by Manchester City, now at Roma

Edin Dzeko scored seventy two goals for City in his career after joining from Wolfsburg in 2011. But after a poor 2014/2015 for Dzeko, City sent him on loan and made the move permanent this season. The Bosnian striker is now excelling in the heart of the Roma attack and he’s scored nineteen league goals this season which is enough to make him Serie A’s joint top scorer with top players, Andrea Belotti and Gonzalo Higuain.

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Man City reject Edin Dzeko is loving life in Italy.

Mario Balotelli, rejected by Liverpool, now at Nice

After Balotelli’s high expectations at Liverpool he disappointed and was sent packing to Nice this Summer. This season so far for Balotelli has been wonderful for him, but he has missed a fair few matches from suspensions and injuries.

Angel Di Maria, rejected by Manchester United, now at PSG

Di Maria’s transfer to United was the second biggest buy from a Premier League club, but his performances didn’t live up to his transfer fee after just three goals in United 2014/2015 league campaign. But now at PSG he is one of Ligue 1’s best wingers and most memorably this season he scored twice against Barcelona.

Radamel Falcao, rejected by Manchester United, now at Monaco

After a poor spell at United where he only scored four goals, Chelsea took him up on loan hoping the Falcao who scored two goals in the Europa League final and who was up with Messi and Ronaldo challenging for the golden boot at Atletico Madrid would turn up. Unfortunately Falcao didn’t and he only scored one goal for the Blues. After that loan spell he returned to Monaco this season and the Colombian striker is doing exceptionally well, having scored sixteen goals in Ligue 1. Falcao also returned to haunt Manchester a few weeks ago by scoring twice against City with one goal being an excellent chip right over Caballero.

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Falcao didn’t adapt to the Premier League, but he has been a very influential player for Monaco this season.

Bafetimbi Gomis, rejected by Swansea, now on loan at Marseille and expected to move permanently this summer

After scoring six goals in the Premier League for Swansea in 2015/16, Swansea sent Gomis on loan to French club Marseille. Gomis is now doing really well there and has scored sixteen goals in the league this season; the same amount as Falcao. Gomis is currently injured, but he’s expected to return in a few weeks.

What is Walking Football and why is it getting so popular

Walking football is a game now played by many people across the UK and there are almost nine hundred venues in England alone.

Walking football is very much aimed at people over fifty, who want to rediscover their old footballing days. The reason that this sport is aimed at people of that age is the rules mean you can only walk, which is better suited for the muscles of people over fifty because as you would expect it’s hard to run if you’re that age.

The rules are, obviously, you can’t run, the ball cannot travel above hip height, in some clubs and some games they do not have goalkeepers and lastly, you can’t slide tackle. Now those are the main rule differences between the regular game, but there are other minor changes.

The game has been encouraged by the BBC, Sky Sports and most famously Barclays bank who made an advert advertising themselves, but in the proccess talked about walking football.

Walking football is becoming a new big thing in the UK.

I think this is a brilliant game and a very good idea, so I would recommend it for many people.

Five things we learnt from Manchester United’s thrilling 3-2 EFL Cup final victory over Southampton

Manchester United 3-2 Southampton

Ibrahimovic 19, 87, Lingard 38,        Gabbiadini 45+1, 48

  • Ibrahimovic has still got it at 35 years of age, and he’s one of the best free kick takers in the world and that was showed with his first goal.
  • Lingard delivers in the big matches and he’s now scored in the EFL Cup final, the FA Cup final and the Community Shield.
  • Manolo Gabbiadini will become Southampton’s main striker and I think he will develop into one of the best centre forwards in the Premier League after scoring five times in his first three Southampton starts.
  • Chris Smalling is not good enough for Manchester United, and he was at fault for Gabbiadini’s second goal and after the game he showed his un-professionalism by taking a dig at Liverpool.
  • United will be a driving force under Jose Mourinho and they could finish in the top four this season.

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    United won the League Cup for a fifth time on Sunday.

Premier League round up

On Saturday, Crystal Palace won 1-0 against Middlesbrough, with Dutch full back van Aanholt bagging a goal in the 34th minute of the game on his fourth start for the Eagles. The win is a very important one for Palace because it climbs them out of the relegation zone and it gives a confidence boost to their players whose past results have been disappointing.

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Lukaku has showed this season that he has a big future, but he showed that especially in Everton’s game with Sunderland where he scored.

Another game which happened on Saturday was Everton’s 2-0 win over Sunderland where Idrissa Gueye, a summer signing from Aston Villa scored his first goal for Everton and it was a wonderful goal too as he absolutely hammered the ball into the top corner with the returning Jordan Pickford having no chance. The other goal was from Lukaku who scored his seventeenth Premier League goal of 2016/2017. Sunderland and Moyes’s loss puts them bottom of the league and piles the pressure on David Moyes after a few tactical wrongdoings in the past few game.

Also, Chelsea beat Swansea 3-1 with Chelsea’s goals coming from their main striker Diego Costa, out of favour central midfielder Cesc Fabregas and the Spanish winger Pedro. Swansea managed to get themselves back into the game through a header from Swansea striker Fernando Llorente who was linked with a possible move to Chelsea in January – but after that success, Chelsea replied in the second half with two goals.

Moving on to Sunday, Spurs got themselves back to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Stoke. And Harry Kane starred in the game scoring a hatrick, which is something he has done already three times in 2017, and setting up Dele Alli too who redeemed himself with that goal after his red card in the week. Spurs are now second in the table and Tottenham are starting to creep up on Chelsea.