TheDailySoccerNews.com

Dirk Kuyt believes Liverpool will hold no fear when they travel to Manchester City on Monday evening as they attempt to deliver an early-season blow to the aspirations of one of their top-of-the-table rivals.
City’s ranks have been swelled by the acquisition of several big-money signings this summer, with many tipping Roberto Mancini’s men to establish themselves as one of the Barclays Premier League’s strongest outfits over the coming months.

However, Kuyt insists confidence is high amongst the Reds contingent following their encouraging start to life under Roy Hodgson’s tenure, meaning they’ll make the short journey to Manchester optimistic of obtaining a positive outcome.

“I think we can look positively towards the game,” he told Liverpoolfc.tv. “After the way we performed against Arsenal, we just have to be positive and go into the game trying to win it.

“Of course, Mancini’s team have bought a lot of new players and it’s a very strong team - but so are we.

“You never have to fear any opponent. Manchester City have bought really good players over the past couple of years and have started to play better and better.

“But the Premier League is one of the toughest leagues in the world and every game, week in, week out, is difficult and you have to make sure you’re ready. (continue reading…)

Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou both scored twice as Chelsea thrashed Wigan.

Florent Malouda gave Chelsea the lead when he tapped in after Frank Lampard’s deft flick was saved by Chris Kirkland.

Anelka added a second shortly after the break when he fired in from inside the area and then nodded in his second before Kalou slotted in his first goal.

Didier Drogba then crossed for Kalou to head in his second and Yossi Benayoun rounded off the scoring as Wigan conceded their 10th goal in two games.

Although the scoreline was emphatic, for the first half-an-hour Wigan’s simple gameplan of beating Chelsea to the first ball had frustrated the visitors who had won their opening league game 6-0 against West Brom.
Had Wigan possessed Chelsea’s confidence in attack then nobody would have begrudged them taking an early lead.

Unfortunately, Roberto Martinez’s side lacked invention in and around the area, and their best efforts on goal during that early period came from distance and Hugo Rodallega’s traction engine of a foot. (continue reading…)

Before you start any task, define the goal, the objective, the target, the line you must reach in order to feel successful.

Otherwise how are you going to know how to feel at the end?

However when Arsène Wenger was asked for his definition of success at his first pre-match press conference of the campaign, the Frenchman’s answer was more specific than you might have expected.

Despite that famous five-year stretch without a trophy, there was no waffle, no flannel and no fudge - just the title.

“Success is to improve from last year,” he explained, “and that is to win the League - it is the only benchmark.

“You cannot finish third and then say the season after, you want to finish behind that. We are a young side and the improvement is natural - the ambition is there, we are hungry for success. (continue reading…)

Both coaches have big decisions to make as they prepare for a re-run of the Euro 2008 final. For Germany, who will replace the suspended Thomas Mueller? For Spain, will they keep faith with Fernando Torres?

They are big calls to decide, especially for the Spanish who must be concerned about the striker’s lack of form and are pondering a change in formation also. This is a real heavyweight clash and those selection decisions could be the key.

Touchline duel

Few coaches are as experienced and respected – and fatherly - as Vicente Del Bosque who has taken this golden generation of Spanish football to a higher level. His commitment to attacking pay is laudable although he also knows his team have not quite fired in this competition.

Joachim Löw has proved himself to be one of the most organised, articulate and impressive coaches in this World Cup and has blended together an exciting team having confirmed the belief that he was the brains behind the renaissance of German football. (continue reading…)

Diego Maradona’s dream of guiding Argentina to their first World Cup since he won it almost single-handedly in 1986 was ended in emphatic fashion as a rampant Germany  cruised into the semi-finals at the expense of the South Americans.

Stunning displays by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller and Miroslav Klose drove the Germans to victory against woeful Argentina at Green Point Stadium.
Müller, who opened the scoring on three minutes, will now miss Wednesday’s semi-final against Spain or Paraguay in Durban after being booked in the first-half.

The loss of the Bayern Munich forward will be a major blow for Germany, but the three-time world champions will not lack confidence whoever their face in four days’ time.

With both teams suffering with a weakness at the heart of their defence, the general consensus was that Argentina’s superior attackers would prove decisive in Cape Town.

But Germany are nothing if not organised and tactically astute and Joachim Löw’s players nullified the threat of the Argentine’s in a low-key first-half.

German dominance was perhaps down to their third minute opener, when Müller claimed his fourth goal of the tournament with a clinical header from ten yards. (continue reading…)

The 4-1 win over England made German national team even more confident that they can go all the way in this tournament. In the last match, they outplayed the English squad and all lines in the team functioned very well.

Now Germany will face a very tough challenge playing with Argentina which will be a great match to watch and probably another classic. This would be sixteenth time for Germans to play in the quarterfinals at the World Cup history.

The biggest strength of this German team is that they play as one unit, all players and lines in the team help each other and they have a good discipline in their way of playing. Coach Loew said that they will have to repeat the performance against England in order to beat Argentina and go further.

Germany will play once again in usual formation with one striker - Miroslav Klose and two offensive midfielders behind him – Mesut Ozil and Lucas Podolski. Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger will take their places in the midfield and the captain Phillip Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker and Jerome Boateng will be the defenders in front of Manuel Neuer. Arne Friedrich will be the player assigned to guard Messi and be his shadow in this match.

This will be a repeat from the quarter final match at the World Cup 2006 when Germany and Argentina played for 2-2 draw and then the Germans went on to win the game on penalties. (continue reading…)

The Netherlands produced a stunning second-half comeback to reach the semi-finals as Brazil’s World Cup imploded in a dramatic game in Port Elizabeth.

After taking an early lead through Robinho’s cool finish, the pre-tournament favourites were pegged back following an awful defensive mix-up early in the second-half and were found wanting in defence again soon afterwards when Wesley Sneijder headed in.

Brazil found themselves in even deeper trouble when Felipe Melo saw red for stamping on Arjen Robben with 17 minutes to go and, although Dunga’s side gave everything in a thrilling finale, they crashed out in the quarter-finals for the second successive tournament.

It is the Netherlands who will go forward to play Uruguay or Ghana in the semi-finals and they have blown this World Cup wide open after putting paid to the idea that South American sides were set to dominate in South Africa.

Of the four teams from that continent in the last eight, Brazil were seen as the most likely to progress - and, for the first 45 minutes at least, it appeared they would not have too many problems in doing so.

The Netherlands have won renown for their defensive discipline in the last few weeks but that was nowhere to be seen when Robinho opened the scoring after 10 minutes. (continue reading…)

These teams have met just three times in the World Cup previously – and all three have been epic battles.

In 1974, in West Germany, Holland won 2-0 to finish top of the second group stage and qualify for the final, a game they lost 2-1 to the hosts.

Twenty years later, in the United States, a quarter-final clash saw Brazil win by the odd goal in five.

And in the next World Cup, in France, Brazil won a semi-final against the Dutch, the victory came courtesy of penalties.

Brazil make one forced change. With Ramires suspended for collecting a second year card, against Chile, they could call back Gilberto Silva or Dani Alves to midfield.

So far this has neither been Total Football nor Jogo Bonito. The Dutch and the Brazilians have taken a far more pragmatic, hard-to-beat approach but there is still flair there although not as obvious as of old.

Elano ruled out with an ankle injury while Ramires is suspended and Felipe Melo is also a doubt. Arjen Robben’s return to fitness is a significant boost to the Dutch as he offers more pace and directness than Rafael van der Vaart. (continue reading…)

The Frenchman believes England should have used their experience to stop Germany’s counter-attacking threat.

England pulled the score back to 2-1 and had a goal disallowed but were hit on the break when chasing an equaliser.

“England had taken over the game and I think they were killed by their impatience,” Wenger told Arsenal’s website.

“They came back in the second half to 2-1 and they controlled the game.

“What made me sad was that, with the experience they had, they were caught. It was free-kick for England, goal for Germany.

“You do what they did with five minutes to go OK but not with 25 minutes left.”
England’s disappointing performances in the tournament in South Africa has led to criticism of manager Fabio Capello, the players, the structure of the Premier League as well as increasing calls for a winter break. (continue reading…)