Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchestar United

Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchestar United

Real Madrid, AC Milan chiefs meet to decide Kaka’s future

KAKA.

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 7 (IANS) The immediate future of Brazilian star Kaka will reportedly be decided at a meeting between Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliano on Wednesday.

Real Madrid is looking to cash in on the 2007 FIFA world player of the year, who has expressed his desire to return to his former club, Xinhua reported.

The Spanish outfit is understood to have set a 25-million-euro asking price for the playmaker.

But the Italian Serie A side is hoping to negotiate a one-year loan deal with Real Madrid contributing to the 30-year-old’s wages.

Kaka has scored 20 goals from 65 matches since his arrival at the Bernabeu in 2009.

But he lost his regular starting place under coach Jose Mourinho last season as he battled to overcome injuries and inconsistent form.

What did India gain out of the Sri Lanka series?

Another India – Sri Lanka series comes to an end. Such has been the frequency of cricket matches between these two Asian neighbours that sometimes one wonders whether Indian cricketers see their Lankan counter parts more than their friends and family.

Since 1985, when India first played Sri Lanka in a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka, India had never won an ODI series against them on their home soil till the MS Dhoni led side won the five match series 3-2 in 2008. That was followed by another 4-1 rout of the hosts in 2009 and now in 2012 another comfortable 4-1 series win in the emerald isles.

While the result itself is big positive considering Indian players were coming out of 5-6 weeks break, what have they gained from this series, individually? For starters, there were no new names who have been the architect of this series win for India.

Brightest spot for India was the form of their vice-captain, Virat Kohli. Kohli continued from where he had left in the last season, undeterred by an indifferent IPL in between. His appetite for big runs was intact and should hold them in good stead with the long home season comprising of 10 test matches coming up. Another positive for India was to see Gautam Gambhir letting his bat do the talking. He played 3 knocks under crucial situations which was a welcome change after a forgettable last season. Suresh Raina found his rhythm and runs which is very important for India’s ODI plans, because he along with MS Dhoni form a lethal finishing combination in a one day innings. Manoj Tiwary grabbed couple of chances that came his way and has ensured that he will be in India’s ODI’s plans atleast for the next series (which will be surprisingly in December against Pakistan) lest there is a dramatic slide in his form in the interim.

Is this the Season of Arsenal Football Club?

The Belgian Brigade

Over the past two decades we have seen top notch players from Brazil dominating and taking control of the game in all professional football matches. Now the time has come for Belgians to prove themselves that they are wothy of playing at the big stage. The Premier League is now filled with Belgian players playing at some of the top clubs such as Manchester City, Champions League winners Chelsea, Everton and many  to follow.

The following is a list of 5 Belgian football players who have left their footprints in top level football.

1. Vincent Kompany

The star defender of Belgium captained Premier League winners Manchester City towards the title for the first time in 44 years. He is at the heart of City’s inspiring defense, arguably one of the best centre backs in football.He has nailed himself as a vital and integrel unit of the Sky Blues. You won’t find a player who maintains such a great level of fitness throughout an entire season as he earned 50 appearances in all competitions and scored a match-winning goal in a 1-0 Manchester Derby thriller. His incredible season came to a royal end after he won Manchester City’s Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season. Kompany was also part of the Premier League Team of the Year for two years in a row. When he finally calls it a day, it will be a huge blow for football and his performances will inspire a new generation of players.

2. Thomas Vermaelen

The 26 year old left-back of Arsenal was made the vice-captain following Cesc Fabregas’s departure to Barcelona. The player is currently the captain of the Gunners. Vermaelen is considered as one of the best Belgian defenders of his generation. His aerial ability is outstanding and is very swift on the ball giving strikers not a moment to feel the ball. Vermaelen who has capped 67 appearances for Arsenal, is regarded by Arsene Wenger as a defensive rock  who nets crucial goals and makes fine clearances for Arsenal. The top clubs are hot on their heels to sign him.

 3 Eden Hazard

 

The Chelsea attacking midfielder is very quick on the ball giving defenders nightmares with his incredible crosses,through ball and shots. The 5ft 7ich  attacker has been drawn comparisons to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, his height is a advantage for him as he can ooze past defenders due to low centre of gravity.He is a spectacular player who provides his team with goal chances.  Hazard became the first non-French player to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year Award and afterwards he became an instant sensation at Lille.

“Eden is technically gifted and very fast. I would take him to Real Madrid with my eyes closed. He can become a great footballer, he is a star of the future.” France legend Zinedine Zidane

 4. Marouane Fellaini 

Everton signed the midfielder Fellaini for a record  15 million euros. In his debut season he was named Everton’s Young Player of the Season. His mindbreaking performances with Everton led to David Moyes labelling him as” good as anyone in the league”. The afro-haired midfielder is a favourite among Everton fans with supporters imitating the footballer with their own set of afro wigs. He is known for his steady ball control, spectacular assists and shooting power. Fellaini has 107 appearances and 14 goals to his credit.

5. Romelu Lukaku

The Belgian striker who is nicknamed “The new Drogba” plays for Chelsea. Before joining the Blues, he played for Anderlecht who won the Belgian championship and Lukaku was adjudged the top scorer in Belgium. He has 14 caps for his national side, netting 2 goals as well. The No.18 striker has the talent to be a regular starter for his team and the coming season could be the ideal time for the youngster to make his chances count. The 19 year old is a player with a great future and his experience at Chelsea could pave way for more clubs to come after him.

Daily transfer updates – 6th August

Robin Van Persie heading to United ?

Robin van Persie to United ?

Robin van Persie could be on his way to Manchester United after Manchester City all but pulled out of the race to sign the Dutchman. Roberto Mancini himself has admitted that signing him is very unlikely at this point of time.

Earlier, Juventus, the other competitors in the fray for van Persie had also ruled out a move for the striker.

Lucas Moura transfer saga continues

The transfer saga of the season, Lucas Moura to United, has rumbled on with new reports of the the youngster agreeing to a move to French powerhouse PSG next summer.

However, other reports claim a 30 million pound fee has been agreed between Manchester United and Sao Paulo, with a medical soon to take place.

Cazorla poised to join Arsenal 

Arsenal are poised to announce the new signing of Santi Cazorla after the player underwent a medical at the club. A fee of 16.5 million pounds has been reportedly agreed between the two clubs.

Chelsea renew interest in Andre Schurrle

Chelsea have reportedly made an improved bid for Bayer Leverkusen striker, Andre Schurrle in an attempt to shore up their front line. The London club are looking to replace Drogba, who left for China earlier this summer.

A bid of 25 million has been reportedly made for the German striker.

The news come in the wake of growing frustration for the Londoners over the transfer of Porto’s Hulk, with the Portuguese club demanding that the player’s release clause of 80 million pounds be met.

Nuri Sahin to Manchester United

Teams over the years have subjugated the weakness of the opponents. Deals are made, not only based on the player’s skills and talents but also on the buyer’s needs and emergency.

The seller uses all possible means to sell and suck the last penny out of the buyers. Who will know it better than both the Spanish giants?

Be it buying a top talent or selling a surplus, the Spanish giants use the media to their advantage.

Recently, Jose Mourinho went public and spoke about Nuri Sahin. He was very smart in the way he talked about how he will be happy if Sahin stays and even happier if he leaves; given the number of midfielders he has.

So far it seems that only Arsenal have shown interest in Sahin but Real Madrid want to create a bidding war and have probably asked Marca to link him with all the possible top clubs.

Now Marca has linked Nuri Sahin to Manchster United stating that Sir Alex Ferguson will probably make a bid for the talented midfielder.

Whether Wenger gets anxious and increases his offer (if he has made any previous offers) for the prospect  remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, Nuri Sahin is on his way out.

Ref Review 2012: Are we biased because Arsenal is included in the numbers?

Every now and then we have received some comments from people about our numbers. I don’t refer to the just abusing comments but people who tried to make a point. And one of the points was and I try to write it down as it has been said a few times:

“As this is an Arsenal site I find it difficult to believe your numbers because the numbers include Arsenal games and therefore the bias from you referee reviewers is shown in the numbers”.

And this was not only said by supporters from other teams but also by Arsenal supporters. So I can say that it was some kind of concern about our numbers. A concern I can understand completely. Of course I know that I and my fellow referee reviewers have done each game with the will to be as impartial as can be. The fact that our reviews are open to see and to consult adds to that of course. Nobody wants to look like a fool so we will not write down a bunch on nonsense because at some point in time it would backfire on us.

Of course there can be disagreement on some decisions we made. I remember Arsenal fans not agreeing with us when we didn’t gave a call to Arsenal because with the rules in hand we disagreed with the “general opinion”. And we have had supporters from other teams who disagreed with a decisions left or right about a game in which their team was involved.

Of course part of this concern could have been lifted by referees who support other teams if they would have joined us. Despite a few appeals, nobody really came to us and offered to help us.

So how can we show you that in fact the Arsenal games were not conclusive in this report?  Well this is what I will try to do from now on in this article.

First of all, we have based our final report on 155 games. Now if we would completely erase all the Arsenal games we would have done 117 games. And that would mean that we would have done 117 games on a total of 342 games (38-38 Arsenal games) and that makes a total of 34.21% of all the PL games. Not as much as the 40% we did in total but still more than 1 game in 3.

We will now give you two tables. An un-weighted and a weighted table. And in this table we will compare the % of correct decisions. The first number you will see is the one with all the games including the Arsenal games. The second number is the one with all the games but with the Arsenal games erased from the database. Next to that we have made a difference between both numbers and included the numbers of games on which this is based. Better see for yourself now and we start with the un-weighted % of correct decisions.

% correct decisions	Included Arsenal	Not included Arsenal	Difference	Nr Games
SWANSEA	81,730	81,930	0,200	6
AVI	79,110	74,680	-4,430	4
WBA	76,170	74,44	-1,730	4
BLACKBURN	76,080	74,830	-1,250	8
BOLTON	75,430	77,130	1,700	8
WIGAN	75,280	76,890	1,610	6
MC	74,750	74,900	0,150	30
LIVERPOOL	74,020	75,320	1,300	18
CHELSEA	73,320	73,170	-0,150	30
TOTTENHAM	72,960	72,820	-0,140	19
MU	72,800	72,580	-0,220	30
EVERTON	72,460	74,220	1,760	10
NEWCASTLE	72,290	72,410	0,120	14
NORWICH	72,100	72,470	0,370	9
SUNDERLAND	70,930	71,510	0,580	12
ARS	69,800	–
QPR	68,550	71,270	2,720	4
WOLVES	68,240	70,290	2,050	6
FULHAM	65,450	71,790	6,340	8
STOKE	64,480	66,300	1,820	6
Average difference on 19 teams			0,674

And if you now look at the teams you will see that in most cases there is a difference. And of course it is only normal that there is a difference if you remove part of the database.  But 8 of the differences are less than 1%. Then we have another 7 teams with a difference between 1% and 2%. So in total we have 15 teams (out of 19 as Arsenal doesn’t count) who have a difference in the numbers of less than 2%. That is almost 79% of the teams falling in to this category.

4 Teams have a bigger difference. But of course, as we have shown before, when a ref puts bias in a game it is obvious that there can be big changes if we remove that game. The biggest swing is found in Fulham but in one of those games we had ref Probert who got the lowest score of any ref in the season if I remember correctly. So it is obvious that this has a great impact on the numbers from Fulham. For Aston Villa we see a reverse situation as in the Arsenal game the ref did a great job and by removing this the number for Aston Villa goes down.

But the most important line is the last line we put in bold and I will repeat it for you.

Average difference on 19 teams: 0,674%

Because with or without the Arsenal games there is only a difference of 0.674% in total on the final outcome of the % of correct decisions.

Yes there is a difference but it is nothing more than that. In general there is less than a difference of 1%.

But for those who have been following us over ref and whistle in the past months or years you know that when there are un-weighted numbers we also have weighted numbers. So wait a second and find out those numbers also and the table has the same build up as the previous one.

SWANSEA	81,630	80,13	-1,500	6
AVILLA	79,810	75,14	-4,670	4
WBA	75,910	73,73	-2,180	4
BOLTON	75,180	81,12	5,940	8
WIGAN	75,100	71,98	-3,120	6
BLACKBURN	74,670	73,21	-1,460	8
Man C	73,720	74,21	0,490	30
Man U	72,580	70,42	-2,160	30
NEWCASTLE	72,290	72,86	0,570	14
CHELSEA	71,700	71,27	-0,430	30
TOTTENHAM	71,510	71,05	-0,460	19
LIVERPOOL	71,500	73,18	1,680	18
EVERTON	71,350	73,64	2,290	10
NORWICH	71,250	72,18	0,930	9
SUNDERLAND	69,980	70,54	0,560	12
ARSENAL	68,640	–
WOLVES	66,970	69,25	2,280	6
QPR	66,300	72,73	6,430	4
FULHAM	63,640	68,52	4,880	8
STOKE	61,660	61,14	-0,520	6
Average difference on 19 teams			0,503

As usual the fluctuations when we put weight on the decisions is bigger. This is of course because in the first table each decision only counts for a 0 or a 1. But in the weighted table it can be 0, 1, 2 or 3. Hence the possible bigger difference in some numbers.

We now have 7 teams with a difference less than 1%. And another 3 teams with a difference lower than 2%. Again the explanation that has been given after the un-weighted table can be applied here.  When a ref had a rubbish game this even gets a bigger effect in these numbers when we delete those games.

And yet again I want to draw your eyes to the most important number in this table:

Average difference on 19 teams : 0,503%.

So even when we put weight in the decisions we only see a difference in total between the table that includes the Arsenal games and the one without the Arsenal games of just 0.5%.

So hiding yourselves behind the fact that as this is an Arsenal site and that it is down to our bias that has given the results we have found looks a bit easy.

And if you really want to see that number of not even 1% as proof of us having some kind of bias, be my guest. You can take each number from now one and look back at them and add 1% to it. Or take 1% away from it. If you really want to do this you can take the numbers that way.  It will slightly change the final number. But it doesn’t change the final outcome of our reviews.

What was wrong, stays wrong. What was good, stays good.

And the one things that comes out of this comparison is that if there was bias it was such a small bias that we can be proud of the way our referee reviewers have done their job.

I dare even say categorically that this slight difference means that even in the Arsenal games our referee reviewers have done all what is humanly possible to keep their bias away from the reviews.

And I just want to ask you to give this thought some consideration:  just imagine that our referee reviewers did their job in an almost non-human perfect way and that our numbers FOR ALL TEAMS were correct. And if you still are not convinced about the job our referee reviewers did, I can only challenge you to come up with your own reviews. I can only tell you to challenge our reviews as they are out there in the open.

And if you don’t want to do this, or if you are not able to do this, then the only option you have is to accept that what we have done is something that nobody has done before. Like it or hate it. But that is a fact.

Next in our series we will give you all the different league tables with all the teams in it. In this articles you will be able to see who done good and who seen worse by the refs in one blink of an eye.

Footnote: As this article goes live, we are working on a scheme that will bring in referees who support other clubs to join us, so that we can have more refs and review more games. The discussions involve bringing in another organisation, and at this point we’ve no idea if we can make this work or how much it will cost us, but we are trying.  We’ll keep you informed.