A real footballer wants to be our friend and talk to us
thespoiler was more than delighted to be offered the chance to natter away with one of the Premier League’s in-form centre-backs, Clarke Carlisle. The former England U21 defender was promoting FIFA 2010 and told us he was a big fan of the new edition:
I’ve got my man-space in the garage at home, and love to play a bit of FIFA when I need a quick break from family life.
Being a perceptive little website, thespoiler asked Clarke why things had started so much better at Burnley, than they did for the Watford side he was promoted with back in 2006:
Its a different type of play. We at Watford were very direct, and had two of three lads upfront who could capitalise on the second ball. Here at Burnley we have a Plan A, Plan B and a Plan C. Watford didn’t have that Plan B, and we ultimately had to work hard on it in training, with a group of players who were made for another style.
Having already faced Man United, Everton, Chelsea and Liverpool, Carlisle is perfectly placed to name his toughest opponent:
“Didier Drogba is the best player I have ever come up against. He’s skilful, can manipulate the ball, has such a low centre of gravity for a big guy, is good in the air and quick. He’ll ask so many questions of you in the course of a game.”
During our chat, Clarke tossed in words including ‘palpable’, ‘articulate’, and ‘epitomise’, hardly the standard after-match thoughts of a Premier League footballer. Indeed, Carlisle was recently named the most intelligent footballer in the country so he seemed a good person to put the charge to, that his fellow professionals are all idiots:
The stereotype of the stupid footballer could not be further from the truth. There is plenty of intellect in the changing rooms at football.
But then he went and spoiled it all by answering ‘Alan Brazil’ to the question of whether he is in fact the best footballer with a city for a surname…
Clarke Carlisle is a top man, and FIFA 2010 is available on all formats from places where you can buy things
Last night, a spritely young 43-year-old named Owen Coyle played for Burnley’s reserves as they faced Liverpool’s second string at Prenton Park. Rafa Benitez and Sammy Lee witnessed the Clarets gaffer, who was apparently forced to play up front due to injuries and international call ups. A puzzling excuse when you consider the fact that he was substituted after 72 minutes.
Coyle didn’t get on the scoresheet in his side’s 1-0 defeat, but we thought it was a jolly good excuse to show the brilliant goal he scored against Accrington Stanley last April.
Stats boffins give Madrid something else to boast about
Lord only knows why it took them nine years to compile it, but today the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) released their list of the top 200 European clubs of the twentieth century.
By awarding a varying scale of points for victories and draws in the Champions League, UEFA Cup and all other European competitions that operated from 1901-2000, the winners were determined to be Real Madrid. They finished ahead of second-placed Juventus by nearly one hundred points, while the most successful English team were Liverpool down in eighth place.
Here’s the top twenty, according to the IFFHS:
1. Real Madrid
2. Juventus
3. FC Barcelona
4. AC Milan
5. Bayern Munich
6. Inter Milan
7. Ajax
8. Liverpool
9. Benfica
Sporting Index provide vital some statistics for the new campaign
Do you like football? Do you like making money from a cheeky flutter? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then you’ll enjoy the following previews of two of the weekend’s biggest games, courtesy of our devilishly handsome friends at Sporting Index…
Bolton/ Liverpool
The Trotters have made a slow start to the season and those spread bettors getting against them have made healthy profits from the opening two games. They don’t have an easy task on Saturday when Liverpool come to town and those who like to play the spreads will know that the Reds have won all of the last five meetings between these two outfits, all by at least a two-goal margin. The Trotters also lost all eight games against the Big Four last season, so spread bettors hoping to sell Liverpool’s supremacy will be hoping to see a performance similar to when Big Sam was at the helm. Bolton won two and drew two of their four games at the Reebok against Liverpool between 2003/04 – 2006/07.
Alessandro Diamanti to West Ham The Mirror believe Gianfranco Zola has flown to Italy to thrash out a deal for the Livorno striker. West Ham scouts - who are absolutely everywhere in the world at all times if the papers are to be believed - have been tracking Diamanti for a long time, and he is described as a ‘cross between Paolo Di Canio and Zola himself’.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: The Hammers are desperate for cover in their relatively small squad, but we don’t quite understand how Zola has flown to Italy when his side have a Carling Cup punch up with Millwall tonight.
Arjen Robben to Manchester Utd
The Dutchman, who nearly signed for Utd in 2004, is a €28m target for Sir Alex, according to Marca.
Burnley 1/ Manchester Utd 0 (mit Deutsch Kommentar, ja!)
When The Spoiler went to bed last night, Burnley had beaten reigning champions Manchester Utd for the first time in 41 years, Tottenham were top of the league and all three promoted sides had won their midweek games. We woke up this morning and discovered we hadn’t transported to some sort of football parallel universe, but that the Premier League is already shaping up as one of the most exciting in years.
Muchos congrats to Burnley, who thoroughly deserved three points in their first Premier League match. Will this result cause Sir Alex to dip into the transfer market?
Spoiler bonus: Highlights of all the other Premiership games after the jump, including Jermain Defoe’s hat-trick at the KC and Birmingham’s win over doomed Pompey…
The players who won’t make the grade at their new clubs
In the spirit of writing people off at an unreasonably early stage of the season, we asked Spoiler correspondent Joe Thompson to list the top ten newbies who are likely to struggle in 2009/10. Thankfully, he obliged…
Alberto Aquilani (Roma to Liverpool, £20m)
‘What?! I’ve seen him on YouTube, he’s a maestro! Great vision, long range shooting! Like Gerrard with nice hair!’ True, but he’s also crocked enough to make Darren Anderton look like The Terminator. In all competitions, he’s made 90 starts in five seasons. Look at the YouTube compilations again, he’s got a different haircut in every clip. OK, he’s Italian - it proves nothing- but he doesn’t play much. At £20m, Benitez has taken a massive gamble. By the time he plays it’ll be nearly Christmas, and a crunching (or even soft) tackle away at Stoke or Bolton might mean he’s glad to get back to the comfort of the treatment room.
Ronald Zubar (Marseille to Wolves, undisclosed)
Very few players are immortalised in a football expression– The ‘Cruyff’ Turn, The ‘Blanco’ Bounce and ‘Zubrelances’. The latter is a term the Marseille faithful coined to describe Zubar’s regular defensive howlers. He’s played for France U-21’s, but then Titus Bramble also played U-21 football when he was clowning around at Newcastle. Mick McCarthy is already ‘pleading for patience’ with his new signing - Wolves fans are going to need it.
Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers to Man City, £17m)
Initially, this looked like a great match. Hughes had long been giving him the eye after re-launching his career
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