‘Robin Van Arsenal’ A One-Man Team?

Q: Why don’t Arsenal score from corners
A: Because Van Persie takes them!

Q: What’s the most popular item in the Arsenal club shop?
A: The Van Persie tea tray, because it carries 10 mugs!

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera…

Unless you’re of a distinctly Arsenal persuasion, you’re probably sick to the back teeth of these stats by now, but here they are again one more time: 38 goals in 41 games in all competitions since January 1st 2011, 17 goals in 18 appearances since the start of the 2010/11 season (which is somewhere approaching 52% of Arsenal’s goals so far this term) and 10 goals in his last 5 matches.

‘Zeer indrukwekkend’ as the Dutch would have it.

Skip back a month or two to the start of the season and Arsenal were in disarray, supposedly suffering the cataclysmic meltdown that many predicted as a result of their high-profile summer departures combined with Arsene Wenger’s ‘I see no ships’ Admiral Nelson-style transfer policy.

The day they got publicly eviscerated at Old Trafford encapsulated their plight perfectly.

A self-induced loss at Blackburn followed shortly, but a week or so on down the line the Gunner’s experienced a sea change. Whether through coincidence or not, Van Persie hit a scoring seam against Bolton (notching his 100th Premier League goal in the process) at the end of September while Wenger relented and shipped in a platoon of deadline-day replacements and, by and large, everything in the garden has been rosy thereafter.

In fact, they’re almost unbeaten since that very day, save one defeat in the North London derby at the crack of October.

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Who says Tevez is under Par?

The whole Carlos Tevez saga is quickly turning into a farcical situation, with the AWOL player and his club, Manchester City, seemingly growing further and further apart by the day.

However, neither side really seems too bothered by the whole affair. While the Citizens have been dominating the Premier League, Tevez has been enjoying himself back in his homeland.

Indeed, the former United man even entered a  golf tournament for both professionals and amateurs in Buenos Aires, which he won after partnering  golfers Sebastian Fernandez and Andres Romero.

When quizzed about the state of mind of his golf chum, Fernandez said: “He did not say anything about his problems with his club, but I was struck by the peace he had. He plays golf very well.”

At least if his football career permanently grinds to a halt after the drama with City, Tevez might be able to make a few shillings on the golf course.

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Going on holiday soon?

Are you going on holiday soon?
Somewhere hot?
Going to be spending quality time on the beach?

Well you’ll to need a nice beach towel to lie on, so why not get one in your clubs colours and show who you support wherever you are.

They’re not so bad for when you get out of the bath either!!

West Ham Beach Towel

Chelsea Beach Towel

England Beach TowelManchester United Beach Towel

All these and more are available now at footballbits football souvenirs – the place to go for all your official football souvenir needs.

Premier League is Better than La Liga?

A 53 Goal Season: An amazing feat but would it have been possible in any other League or if he was playing for any other team?

During Real Madrid‘s 8-1 domination of Almeria on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record set for most goals in a Primera Division season set by Madrid player Hugo Sanchez in the 1989/90 season, and Athletic Bilbao legend Temlo Zarra in the 1959/60 season of 39 goals. His 40th La Liga goal of the season was a typical driving run through the midfield before slotting the ball into the bottom left hand corner from just outside the box – the type of goal we have become accustomed to from Ronaldo and his Barcelona counterpart Lionel Messi.

But as much as watching the world’s two best players fight it out for a golden boot race that is almost more interesting than the title race itself – it unfortunately shows the gaping hole between the English and Spanish Leagues. Barcelona and Real Madrid have been the two best clubs in the world this season containing the two best players in the globe. The players in these two teams and the football that they play gives many people the opinion that the Spanish La Liga is the best league in the world. But if these two giants of world football played in the Premier League we would most certainly not see the dominance that these clubs enjoy in their own country.

They would probably still win their titles but wouldn’t be scoring 6 goals every three games. The reason they can is because the other 18 teams in La Liga are so poor – which is the reality of the Spanish first division. You turn on the TV and if it’s Barcelona or Madrid you watch because you like watching absolute displays of football class and masses of goals. If its any other of the teams though, you look for something else.

The defences on every other team lay it on a plate for the big two’s dominance. Ronaldo’s record breaking goal was case and point. There were 5 defenders that ended up surrounding the winger but none of them affected his run in any way and gave him time to shoot. He would have been closed down much quicker if he was playing Stoke, Bolton or Newcastle and it probably wouldn’t have been a goal.

The league itself in Spain is no where near the quality of the Premier League. There is only two teams in the title race and Barcelona had pretty much won before the season had started. In England, there were 5 teams still in it in December. The rest of the teams in La Liga have one or two good players but the quality of football is much lower. 14th place Levante would get beaten by Blackburn, 14th in the Premier League, 5 out of the 7 days of the week. Same goes for pretty much every position below 2nd.

That’s the reason why the Premier League is much further ahead than La Liga. You get quality football in most games in England, not just when the top two are playing. Even Messi, gradually becoming the best player ever would struggle to score 35 goals let alone 40 that Ronaldo breezed his way to against Primera backlines.

But unfortunately, Barcelona will beat Manchester United at Wembley and it’s just another reason why people will say that La Liga is a better competition than the Premier League.

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