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The Liverpool football club season in 2009/10 was not quite the calamity that some think, but for a club with the fantastic history of Liverpool, finishing out the top 4 of the Premier League and therefore missing out on Champions League football next season is very disappointing. Throughout the season we played well on occasion but we were horribly inconsistent. The league results record is Won: 18. Lost: 11. Drew: 9. Win percentage: 47%.. On the basis of those results, Rafa Benitez’s time at Liverpool is rightly finished. The form at Anfield was fairly good (winning 13 out of 19 games), however it was the away form that really mad the season a poor one only five games won away from home. The season started badly at White Hart Lane, as we lost 2-1. Spurs deserved the victory but we were annoyed as it seemed a clear penalty was turned down late on when Vorovin was brought down in the box. A gift for Spurs fans. The rest of August was a fairly mixed one. An easy victory at home to Stoke saw an excellent debut from youngster Daniel Ayala at centre half. This win was then followed by a home loss to Aston Villa. A hard fought away win at Bolton saw Liverpool come from 2-1 behind to take the game thanks to a Stevie Gerrard volley. The month of September offered three easy games against Burnley, West Ham and Hull and Liverpool managed to win all three. But October was much harder, with two away loses at the hands of Chelsea and Sunderland. The second of these loses saw one of the freakiest goals ever. Darren Bent’s first shot deflected of an inflatable beach ball that had been thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan. Those loses accompanied by two in the Champions League did not Liverpool confidence going into the Manchester United match. Fortunately for us we bounced back in style with one of our best league performances of the season. Liverpool battled hard and won 2-0. This was supposedly the result that would finally kick start our season, but the next week we were beaten 3-1 away at Fulham. November was another mixed month which started with an extremely frustrating draw on a Monday night against Birmingham City. Glen Johnson proved once again how useful he can be offensively by being a thorn in the Birmingham defence’s side all night, but it wasn’t enough. Then there was a frustrating draw to Manchester City at home. Then came one of the few highlights this season. The Merseyside Derby at Goodison park which we won 2-0 thanks to a deflected Mascherano shot and a goal from Dirk Kuyt. A mixed start to December saw us draw again at the hands of Blackburn which was followed by a poor defeat against Arsenal at Anfield. We played OK in the first half but the second got off to a bad start with a Glen Johnson own goal followed by an excellent Arshavin goal. Livepool looked totally void of ideas in a very disappointing second half performance. Over Christmas we were comprehensively beaten by bottom of the league Portsmouth in probably our worst performance of the season. But, the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 were a positive one, bringing about our best unbeaten league run of the season of seven games. The performances were showed a lot of character as we battled hard. 2010 started with a battling performance away at Stoke City after our calamitous FA Cup exploits. A lapse of concentration at the back let in Robert Huth to score a last minute equaliser. We then won the size pointer against Spurs, our fellow top four competitor. A 2-0 win over Bolton at Anfield ended the month of January before the return Merseyside Derby. This game at Anfield was full of hard tackling, however our in-form Greek centre half was sent off for a two footed tackle, though he did win the ball. Our derby specialist Dirk Kuyt did it again by getting his head on the end of a Steven Gerrard corner to set up a well deserved win in what was an excellent battling performance. After losing 1-0 at the Emirates we headed to Manchester City for another crunch game against a fellow top four rival. It wasn’t much of a spectacle but more of a tactical battle with both Managers’s unsurprisingly scared to lose and a draw duly followed. A comfortable 4-1 victory over a poor Portsmouth side came before a trip to the mighty Manchester United. With United still in the hunt for a fourth consecutive title and our ambitions for a top four finish still intact (just), all was to play for. A great start from us saw Torres left the Liverpool fans jubilant for about ten minutes when . United were awarded a controversial penalty which Wayne Rooney converted on the recoil after a fine initial stop from Reina. We never really got going in the second half and after Park Ji-Sung put Manchester in front on the hour we never looked like getting back into the game. With seven games to go we knew we couldn’t afford many more slip ups if we were to finish inside the top four. A 3-0 win over Sunderland inspired by a wonder strike from Torres and an excellent display from Steven Gerrard was unfortunately followed by an poor 1-1 draw against a very resilient Birmingham City team. Our next game was a potential Europa League final preview against Roy Hodgson’s Fulham side. This result for me finally killed our chances of a top four finish. Fulham played for the point and that is exactly what they got due to some good defending, good goalkeeping and a lack of creativity in the final third from a disappointing Liverpool side. Three Liverpool goals against a poor West Ham side was followed by a flattering away win at Turf Moore that relegated a spirited Burnley side. Our hopes of finishing in the top four were over when we lost to future champions Chelsea at our final league game of the season at Anfield. The award for goal of the season definitely went to Fernando Torres’s stunner against Sunderland at Anfield. Special mentions go to Ryan Babel for his strike against Lyon and Javier Mascherano’s against Unirea. The player of the season for me is Fernando Torres, for his goal scoring record. It feels to me like he has barely played this season yet he’s still scored 21 goals. Javier Mascherano also did well this year, here’s hoping he’s still wearing a red shirt next season. Reina has been without a doubt our most consistent player. A world class player who has kept us in games this season with some fantastic saves. A mark of a great goalkeeper is that you make the hard stuff look easy and Pepe Reina certainly does that. A great goalkeeper and a fantastic character. With Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres struggling for form and fitness, Reina has emerged as Liverpool’s leader on and off the pitch. On the pitch we’ve been too predicable and timid at times. Injuries have been a big problem, however the players that we still had useable should be able to perform a lot better. Liverpool’s woes this campaign were summed up in the season’s most farcical moment, losing to a bright red inflatable – and Sunderland, sort of – at the Stadium of Light. Next season lets hope that Benitez’s successor can do better.

Originated in Anfield Suburb of the Liverpool city, Liverpool football club is situated in the Northwest of England. When the city’s rival team Everton left the place and moved to Goodison park in 1892, it was found fit to start another football club and thus Liverpool FC came into being.  The stadium of Liverpool is in Anfield and constitutes four separate stands. Of these four stands The Kop is the most famous and is the biggest single tier stand which can house more than 12,000 football fans.

The Kop plays host to perhaps the most vocal supporters of the club and particularly on nights when European league matches are hosted the crowd is in an extra frenzy. The other three stands are Anfield Road End, Main and the Centenary stands located along the pitch side.

So far winning the league approximately 18 times, Liverpool FC is considered the most successful football club. They have also won the European cup 5 times and Manchester United are considered to be their closest rivals. Manchester United has so far won the league 18 times but has been able to win the European cup only on 3 occasions. The main rivals of Liverpool FC are Manchester United and Everton Football Club. Everton is situated very close to Liverpool and is just across at Stanley Park. But Manchester United is situated 30 miles away and the competition is chiefly based on the cities legacy of slave trade and eventual unemployment in Liverpool.  

When Everton left in 1892, it was over an argument for rent. Mr. John Houlding who was the Chairman of the Club then along with the remaining colleagues formed the Liverpool Football club on 15^th March 1892. It was created bottoms up and no one believed it would go on to become the biggest English football club ever. Even Mr. Houlding never dreamt of the achievements that Liverpool FC bore in the oncoming years. The Liverpool club has so far managed to win the league championship 18 times, seven times in the Football Association Club, 7 times in the league cup, 5 times in the European cup, 3 times in the UEFA cup, 15 times in the Football Association Charity Shield and 3 times in the European Super cup.

For your all of your football shirts and the Liverpool Home Football Shirt visit Soccerbox.com…

Liverpool FC is owned by two Americans namely George Gillette and Tom Hicks. Roy Hodgson is the current manager of this club.

football game shirts, I imagine fall into one or more of 4 categories. A football shirt may be either vintage, classic, retro or replica, all four or any other combination. Let’s ignore match worn ones as I believe that they fall into a different zone altogether. So, imagine that you have in your hands an England 1966 shirt. It wasn’t worn on the day, so it’s not match worn. It is however a replica – it’s a copy of one that was worn on the day. It’s not retro as those shirts date from the eighties to the mid nineties. It is certainly a classic shirt and since it’s not a contemporary shirt it’s also a vintage shirt.

Now let’s study a Liverpool shirt from the 1981 European Cup Final versus Real Madrid in Paris. Again not match worn. It’s classic, retro, vintage and replica. Or a Manchester United from that 1999 night in Barcelona versus Bayern Munich – not match worn. It’s classic, vintage and a replica. Not retro as it falls outside of the eighties to mid nineties range, but it ticks all the other boxes.

Of course these are arbitrary distinctions. However it is interesting to note that there was no such subject as a replica football shirt before the mid seventies. The market was created almost over night by the Admiral company from Leicestershire as set out with Leeds United and then with the England Football Shirt they started to market replica shirts for fans to buy. Then as now there were cries of “rip-off” and “you’re fleecing the kids”, but I don’t mean that Admiral much cared and the market was up and running.

With the way the internet is going there will be many places where you can buy a football shirt, the secret is to shop around, always buy your England football shirts from a site where you can call them using a telephone, if there is no contact number then please be very careful.

The 2009/10 was a second-rate one for Arsenal by the high standards that the fans have come to accept, but overall it was not a bad year. Arsenal achieved a 13th consecutive year in the Champions League with a young and developing team. That’s a great achievement. The Arsenal team also continued to play some exceptional football.

Arsenal went into the new season with a new facelift, two out and one in during the summer of 2009. We sold two players and only saw Thomas Vermaelen come in  Manchester City clearly had too much spending £25 million for the Adebayor. City and £16 million for an out of sorts Toure

Before the opening day of the season we were widely tipped to miss out on the top four, Liverpool were expected to go one better and win the title for the first time in ages whilst Man City had spent huge amounts from which big things were expected. It didn’t work out that way.

The first game of the season was a tricky one away at Everton, the result was something nobody expected as we handed out a 6-1 beating with Cesc Fabrefas running the show and getting one great goal. A fantastic start to the season for Arsenal football club fans.

Champions League qualification was not yet certain, we to beat over two legs. A muscular performance at Parkhead with Thomas Vermaelen looking like a pillar of strength at the back and slotting into the Arsenal side well. A deflected Cesc strike off the back of William Gallas just before half time and then a late own goal. In the return match Arsenal scored three past Celtic to put us into the Champions League proper.

We then hammered Portsmouth at home and went up north to Manchester United where a sensational Arshavin strike was canceled out by a Diaby own goal and a Wayne Rooney goal. After that we went unbeaten until the end of November in the league, pounding in the goals and looking very solid.

December was gritty, we had to grind out wins, not pretty, but it showed good spirit in the squad, and we got those results. Cesc Fabregas started coming into his own, scoring goal after goal after goal. Then game the tough run, four games – Villa (away), United (home), Chelsea (away), Liverpool (home). We needed about six points at least from those games to stay in contention, but we only got four, we had had injuries all season and they were starting to affect us, and our season started to flag.

Then came the moment that our season took a turn, Robin Van Persie had played in a meaningless friendly for his country, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini took out Van Persie and his ankle. Persie was out for seven months.

When Barcelona came to the Emirates it was a great game  45 minutes of fantastic football, yet they still couldn’t score. Then, in the second half they scored two goals in quick succession. Arsenal had a half-fit Cesc and an injury ravaged side, Walcott equalised and we won a penalty in the last minute. Cesc, with a broken leg scored the penalty to make it 2-2. It marked the end of Aresenal’s season, with our best player out for the rest of the season with a broken leg, and Arshavin  out with a muscle injury. The chances of winning the Champions League or the Premiership disappeared.

Injuries, players that were not good enough and managerial faults… are all to blame for a disappointing season. A season that started so fantastically well had crashed in slow motion by the end of the season. A young team, hungry and ambitious had changed by the end. It is easy to forget everything that happened before the last six weeks of the season, but we had remained in touching distance with the eventual winners the whole team. Over the summer investment into the Arsenal squad looks certain. There has been progress over the past year and, should the core of this squad be improved by one or two decent signings, there is a good chance that Arsenal could overhaul the ageing Chelsea and Manchester United teams next season. Lets hope that season 2009/2010 was the last building year before winning some big trophies next season. Arsenal football club fans get ready for an exciting new season.

It looks like the Dutch soccer team is not going to have to miss master striker Robben from Bayern Munich. Robben, who was voted best player of the German Bundesliga collapsed in the match from The Netherlands against Hungary after making what seemed like a innocent move. Robben, who is infamous for his sensitivity to bad injuries plays a key role in the Dutch soccer team. In the match against Hungary, won by the Dutch with a stunning 6-1, Arjen Robben scored two fabulous goals.

Arjen Robben is part of what the Dutch call “the big four,” which further include Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder and Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart (who seems to get transferred to Manchester United this season). These 4 players are considered the key players of the Netherlands on the upcoming World Championship in South Africa. When Arjen Robben got injured, the hopes of the Dutch people to become the new World Champion went up in smoke so it seemed. A survey in the biggest Dutch newspaper showed that the Dutch see Arjen Robben as the key to victory in the African country.

Holland has very bad memories when it comes to injuries of their key players. In the past, master striker Marco van Basten  even had to give up his career because of a chronic injury, caused by the many vicious attacks on the Dutchman. Like Van Basten, Robben is sometimes subject to attacks from the defense of the opponent. Van Basten had a great teacher in Dutch all-time best player Johan Cruijff, who was a master in avoiding violent attacks on his legs and seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Yet, when you have the quality of Marco van Basten or Arjen Robben in the game of soccer these days, this is definitely not enough. Intangible for the defense the opponents seem to have no other choice than to foul exceptional players like Arjen Robben.

When Robben recovers in time and if he is able to play in South Africa (scans made in a hospital in Rotterdam brought to light he had a smaller injury of the hamstring then first assumed), the defense of the opponent will use all necessary means to stop Arjen Robben from scoring. Let’s hope (for the game’s sake) they don’t succeed in injuring him that badly, he will not be able to show the audience his incredible skills.

Players like Robben, Argentinian Messi and Ronaldo from Portugal are the ones that people visit a soccer stadium for. Since another master striker is already absent in South Africa (Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast), it would be unfortunate for the soccer fans to miss out on yet another exceptional soccer talent. But just before the beginning of the World Championship most soccer fans seem to have only one thing in their minds: Let the games begin! With the injury of Arjen Robben however, the Dutch people wouldn’t mind postponing it a week or two.

But whatever happens, one thing is crystal clear: the coming 4 weeks the country of South Africa will be the center of the Earth.

The Manchester Utd striker is closing in on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the March 2010 Castrol Rankings.

Castrol has applied the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Rankings – using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2,000 players and games from Europe’s top five leagues over the last 12 months.

That analysis shows that Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has retained his place at the head of the Castrol Rankings for the third successive month and extended his lead over Cristiano Ronaldo who sits in second place.

Wayne Rooney, though, has been in brilliant form with his performances this season prompting club manager Sir Alex Ferguson to declare that his player is now ready to be compared alongside Messi and Ronaldo as one of the world’s top players.

Castrol Performance Analysis supports Ferguson’s view and shows that Rooney was the outstanding player overall in March, earning an average of 1525 Castrol Rankings points per game, which explains the forward’s rise from eighth to third in the rankings.

Rooney scored six goals in four games during March, including his strike after just 63 seconds against Bayern Munich, the fastest goal in the Champions League this season. He has been involved in 37% of United’s league and Champions League goals during the same period,, scoring 35 and providing nine assists.

Wayne Rooney has scored 29 goals in 36 Premier League games over the last 12 months, more than any other player.

Castrol Ambassador and 1998 FIFA World Cup™ winner Marcel Desailly said: “Rooney is 24 now and while he is not yet at his peak, his game has matured rapidly over the last the 12 months and he is now a genuine world class player.

“It’s wrong to say Manchester United are a one-man team, but Rooney has been so dominant this season that the other attacking players have inevitably played a more supporting role.

“Rooney may not have the trickery of Ronaldo and Messi – although he is extremely skilful with the ball at his feet – but in terms of his all round game, it’s hard to pick out a single weakness. The biggest difference this season has been his goalscoring, particularly with his head, and he is close to becoming the complete centre forward.

“With some players, you always wonder whether they will fulfil their potential. That has never been an issue with Rooney who has great mental strength and determination and is committed to improving his game.”

Messi, though, remains the man to catch. Last month the Argentine scored 10 goals in seven games, including back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga. In the 12 months to 31st March 2010, he has scored 29 goals in 32 league games, while also firing in 76 shots on target, a league-high. His 131 successful dribbles is also a La Liga record over the last year.
Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o continues to fall down the Castrol Rankings, this month dropping 80 places to 146th.

Eto’o lays sixth in the September 2009 rankings but the forward has scored just once every 197 minutes since joining Inter last summer, compared to a rate of one every 98 minutes with Barcelona last season.

Real Madrid winger Ronaldo remains close on the heels of his Barcelona rival and has the best minutes-to-goal ratio in the Champions League over the last 12 months, scoring, on average, every 90 minutes.

The biggest mover into the top ten is Ronaldo’s club-mate Gonzalo Higuain, who has risen 10 places, from 14th to 4th. The striker is the top scorer in La Liga over the last 12 months with 30 goals in only 33 appearances and is the most clinical finisher in Europe, scoring with 34% of his shots.

Higuain is expected to lead Argentina’s attack in South Africa at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and another South American, Lucas Barrios, has also made a big move, this time into the top 50. The Borussia Dortmund striker has risen 215 places to 34th after impressing during his first season in the Bundesliga with 15 goals.

Edwin van der Sar remains the top ranked goalkeeper in 15th position. The Manchester United man kept four clean sheets in March and has saved 79% of shots over the last 12 months in the Premier League, a league-high.

You can find more about the 2010 world cup stadiums, the teams and the Best World Cup Bets at www.bestworldcupbets.co.uk and you can even get a totally free world cup wall chart

FC Barcelona La Liga Winners celebrations turned ugly as Rioting Fans take over Video

Police arrested 134 people and more than 150 were injured as Barcelona’s Champions League victory celebrations descended into riots.

Around 100,000 people spilled onto the streets of the Catalan capital after Barcelona’s 2-0 triumph over Manchester United in Rome.

But the carnival atmosphere turned ugly after midnight when youths began clashing with police around Las Ramblas, the city’s most famous street.

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Manchester United and England received a boost from Rio Ferdinand  after he came through after 27 minute of Tony Carr’s testimonial match at Upton Park.

Ferdinand has had issues with back and groin problems this season, which have only allowed  him to play in just 11 Premier League starts for United. The England captain made his return after three weeks on the bench as a late substitute in last weekend’s victory over Sunderland.

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The English Premier League has often been synonymous with the clubs Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool – also known as the Big Four. These four clubs have often been identified as the best of English football since the top 20 teams broke off from the Football Association to form the English Premier League. The four of them have earned the right to be known as the biggest clubs in the country after consistently winning the top trophies in English football every season. However, that may be about to change in the near future.

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the largest soccer club in the world is Man United.  The selection of players on offer to a team of that prominence is fairly enormous.  In the past Manchester United have therefore had some top rated footballers out on the pitch for them. What place in a soccer team has a tendency to steal the headlines?  Well, whether you like it or not, the centre forwards continuously appear to grab the limelight.

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