Premier League Has Interesting Season

The Premier League did not disappoint in this in this recently concluded chapter which saw Liverpool and Arsenal enjoying a significant period of time being at the top of the League.

Arsenal kick-started the season by winning 6 consecutive matches as they were beginning to establish themselves as genuine title contenders but a series of injuries seriously hurt their chances of taking a silverware they have not lifted in over 8 years.

The side of Arsene Wenger started dropping points up until the point when a top 5 spot in the Premier League was in jeopardy but ultimately they managed on securing the 4th position.

Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard boosted Liverpool’s chances of winning the Premier League title with the Uruguayan attacker concluding the season on a high note as he was top goal-scorer as well as earning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award due to his consistent string of impressive performances as he almost singlehandedly pushed Liverpool to the top of the English league.

Chelsea also maintained their title hopes alive with Jose Mourinho leading the way for the Premier League club but they lacked a consistent attacker which could completely propel the team in the pole position of the league. Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o failed on turning themselves in a reliable attacking outlet for the team.

It was ultimately Manchester City the team that managed on lifting the Premier League title as they concluded the season by claiming a 2-0 triumph over West Ham in the last match of the campaign and maintained 2 points advantage over their nearest rivals Liverpool FC.

“The fans enjoyed the whole season we broke the records for the most goals scored by any team in England. It is the way we must play with the quality of players we have. Of course I am proud to manage this group of players and this club. It’s a great honor to be the first manager from outside of Europe to win the title but I’m not the most important person’’ Manuel Pellegrini stated after defeating West Ham.

MAROTTA BAFFLED

Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta says that he is baffled by the decision of Argentine national team manager Alejandro Sabella not to involve Carlos Tevez in the national team squad in the last few years. The former Manchester city man has not played for the national team since 2011. His last appearance in a major competition for Argentina was in the Copa America in 2011. His absence has been classified as due to non-football reasons, which is even more surprising for Marotta since he finds Tevez as one of the professional players he has worked with.

Tevez moved to Juventus in an £ 10 million deal from Manchester city and he has been one of the regular first-team players for Antonio Conte’s men. Even though the presence of Tevez has failed to inspire them to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, he is proving to be more than an important player by helping the team reached the semifinals of the Europa league. Tevez has already scored 18 goals in the league this year. It is because of these reasons that Marotta finds it hard to justify that the 30-year-old has been omitted from the national team squad on a regular basis.

Marotta also says that Tevez is one of the few players who aspires to wear the national team jersey. “Clearly Tevez is a man and therefore aspires to wear the jersey of his country, especially at a World Cup. He deserves it for his talents, but the coach makes his decisions. I think it is down to non-football situations we don’t know. As a professional, Tevez accepts this decision with disappointment, but understanding, realising he can gain satisfaction elsewhere in his career,” said Marotta.

Argentina open the World Cup 2014 with a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

CANADA HOST WOMENS WORLD CUP

Canada is expected to become an incredibly popular destination for soccer after winning the rights to host the two major FIFA events for women’s soccer. Canada will be holding both the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

These two tournaments will be taking place in seven cities across the country and it is expected to draw at least 2 million fans from all over the globe. The nation is preparing to make hay with this news, as it is expected to be followed by several announcements linking with the development of infrastructure across the country.

The FIFA head for the women competitions, Tatjana Haenni stated that this was indeed a great news for women’s soccer. FIFA are planning to expand the game to all corners of the globe and not just to Canada. Men’s soccer is now only picking up pace in the North American country. There have been a few Canadian teams included in the MLS, while more are set to be added in the near future. Toronto, Montréal, and Edmonton are expected to be some of the top destinations at these major tournaments.

They may not attract the attention as men’s tournament, but Canada believes that they can certainly help improve the profile of the nation as a soccer country, according to www.ilovemanutd.com.

“The world needs to see good women’s football. We hope that we can reach so many countries worldwide to further develop football, not only in the world but also in Canada. It’s important for us to hold these events in countries that can show the world that women’s football is at a high level and is developed and has success stories. That hopefully helps other countries to jump on the train,” said Tatjana Haenni.

Haenni is expected to visit Canada in the next few days.

COCHRANE APPOINTED

Earl Cochrane has been appointed as the deputy general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association from January 1 and he will be acting until a permanent solution is found. Cochrane has been out of work for the last few months after being released by Toronto FC where he served as the director of the team. He was also in charge of the player operations as well. He is one of great experience and Canada’s Soccer Association will be extremely happy to have appointed him.

CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli has stated that the association is extremely happy to have Cochrane on the board. The coming few years are extremely important for Canadian soccer since the country will be hosting the likes of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup in successive years. CSA will also be looking to bring in many changes for the upcoming World Cup qualification for the men’s tournament. This will include the new domestic player development system.

CSA’s press release has said that Cochrane will be looking after several aspects of the association including the likes of player registration, national competitions, and player transfers. He will also oversee several aspects of the local clubs as well.

“We are pleased to welcome Earl Cochrane back to our Canada Soccer team. Earl is an organized and versatile sports professional whose experience will be extremely valuable to our organization as we prepare for two of the most important years to date for our sport in this country,” said CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli. “Cochrane will oversee the soccer administration of Canada Soccer, including sport governance, discipline and appeals, player registration and transfers and national competitions,” said the press release from CSA.

Canada have failed to qualify for the World Cup 2014, but will be hoping that the fortune changes in 2018.