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Are Porto Players Good Enough for Chelsea?

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Chelsea have sealed the signing of yet another relatively in the moment manager to take to Stamford Bridge, but will the players that he might bring in have enough quality to succeed at London?

The Strikers
Perhaps the thing that he has transformed at Porto is the way in which they attack, and their strikers, when talking in more detail. Falcao and Hulk have formed a very formidable strike partnership that the whole of Europe are and rightfully should be scared of.

And at Chelsea, for some reason, the striking department is somewhat lacking. Fernando Torres is out-of-sorts since the World Cup, Didier Drogba is horribly inconsistent, and Anelka, well, some fine tuning needed there. Apparently, Villas Boas wants to bring in Falcao, along with several others that Abramovic wants to bring in: Neymar and Lukaku.

When you just look at that one player, Falcao is talented, and I'm very sure he won't have an issue with coping with the physical side of the English game. But the fact remains that he isn't a proven striker anywhere else.

He has the skills, that's true, but it remains to be seen whether he can be top level.

Come back next week for more: been busy!

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Looking to the Future: Liverpool FC

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Liverpool FC are molding an increasingly promising team and are looking like the team that can challenge or even topple the stranglehold of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Promising players include the likes of centerback-come-rightback Martin Kelly, a new prospect in young John Flanagan, the youngest player to appear for the Liverpool FC senior team in the Premier League, Jack Robinson and a pretty decent young midfield combination in Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing.

Not to mention that the signings that have been made under Kenny Dalglish, such examples in the January transfer window include the young new attacking partnership in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. Luis Suarez in particular has impressed the Anfield faithful.

The people Liverpool FC have signed in the summer transfer window, along with the people we are linked with sounds pretty promising as well. We have already snapped up 3 players, although most would only know of one: that being young Jordan Henderson. The other two are both under 20, one being Lloyd (not Phil) Jones and Alex O'Hanlon, a left back being dubbed as the 'New Gareth Bale'.

And now to the people that Liverpool FC are interested in. Liverpool are in fact interested in snapping up Connor Wickham of Ipswich Town, Mata of Valencia and Charlie Adam of Blackpool. Those three are probably the three highest players on Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish's wishlists, and if not, then they are pretty close to the top.

Connor Wickham stands out to me as someone who can potentially bring Liverpool FC forward in the future. Young, talented and even British, so he applies in whatever rule is applied that includes the use of British players in the future. He would, in my opinion, be a good buy.

Overall, I think Kenny Dalglish has done almost everything right, except in prioritizing transfer targets. Liverpool should in fact go and actually bid for a winger first. Liverpool, if I'm not mistaken even placed a bid for Brazilian keeper Doni, with Reina still set to stay for one more season, I personally don't see the point of having another keeper among Liverpool ranks.

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A Manager Guide: How To Beat Arsenal FC

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It's 'A Manager's Guide' again here on our website, with our first edition being on how to beat Barcelona just a few weeks ago, this week the subject of our interest is Arsenal FC.

It's all about taking your chances against Arsenal, because when you are up against a team whom keep possession well, you are always going to have to make the most of all your chances throughout the course of the game.

Pressing is Key
Against a team like Arsenal, you NEED to pressurize the players, and to close them down, otherwise they will simply find space. I personally think that the difference between Barcelona and Arsenal is the work ethic.

Barcelona have incredible movement when on the ball, they simply create so much space for each other. Arsenal on the other hand, besides Walcott, they don't seem to have the pace moving forward. Look at it this way, even Xavi gets into the act when Barcelona attack.

Pressing would cause the players to panic a little, and potentially wrongly place/weigh the pass, hence Arsenal losing the ball.

And for Attacking
I think that against Arsenal, you have got to do it either one way or another, and the two methods of doing so is through either playing a game which includes a lot of crosses for your strikers to get on to or simply to outthink Arsenal, Koscielny sometimes, in my opinion is a bit too erratic in his tackles.

And personally, when I watch Arsenal play, I think that Koscielny gives away way too many penalties thanks to his tackles. So that's what you really have to do, to sort of sniff around the edge of the box and simply looking for an opening, because one will certainly open up.

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Manchester United's Promising Defence: Tactical Watch

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It looks rosy for the red half of Manchester, with Sir Alex Ferguson opting to go for youngsters this transfer window, with Alexis Sanchez still linked, but the Jones signing officially announced his intent.

The Back 4
The back 4 is looking particularly strong for the future following the 16.5 million pound signing Phil Jones. Already partner to Smalling on International U21 duty for England, this two are no strangers to how each other play and already have quite a bit of experience in the Premier League, Jones with Blackburn this year and Smalling with Fulham last year.

The twins Fabio and Rafael Da Silva also look very promising. Speed, technique and a good physical game, the pair can blossom into the Maicons and Dani Alveses of the future. Both are very attacking-minded and are often even further than Manchester United's wingers in terms of tactical positioning, so they certainly pose an attacking threat whenever they carry the ball forward.

All of the four are all not brought up in Manchester and have been brought in thanks to some scouting and some wheelin' and dealin'. The 4 are certainly players that we will have to watch in the very near future, as Vidic and Ferdinand wind down on their pretty long careers so far.

The Keeper
The signing hasn't been announced yet, but I think we all know that only one person really can be between the sticks at Old Trafford next season, and that is current Athletico Madrid goalkeeping prodigy David De Gea.

Apparently, a deal has already been brokered with the Spanish club, however De Gea claims no knowledge at all of such a deal, and not just on one occasion, on several different occasions. His move will signal a brand new dawn at Old Trafford, with his reactions and wonderful goalkeeping technique touted to be one of the best in the world at a tender age of 19.

Already singled out as a potential future number 1 for 'La Furia Roja' (Spain) for years to come as he is expected to take the number 1 jersey from Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas.

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A Manager Guide: How To Beat Barcelona

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It is one of the most asked football questions, and it's still a mystery to managers all over, and here's what I think on how you should approach a game against the mighty Barcelona

Step 1: Close Down The Attacking Trio
It's the ultimate strike partnership, you get Lionel Messi's dazzling dribbling and mazy runs, not to mention his delicate chips over the keeper, then you get the skill of David Villa, cool and composed in a one-on-one situation. And then you get Pedro, the hardworking wideman who cuts in very often.

Many times, teams go out there and basically triple mark Messi, that is not the answer, in my opinion. I think that there shouldn't be 'exclusive' defending for Messi. After all, the only result of that can be him finding space where you're not supposed to be playing, and leaving that place open.

Let me explain that: for example, you're a  left-back marking Messi. He cuts into the middle, that leaves the whole right wing open for Barcelona for Daniel Alves and Iniesta to expose. That is why you do NOT man-mark Messi, he breaks free anyway. To me, the answer can only be zonal marking.

Yes, there are many skeptics, but it is a tactic that works against Barcelona (if you have a decent enough side). That way you always in some way or another stand behind the Barcelona strikeforce. And just a piece of advice: don't play the offside trap. that's the worst idea ever.

Step 2: Shutting Up The Midfield
To me, it's all about hard work that will stop the Barcelona midfield from operating properly. We certainly saw that in the first few minutes of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona. Although, the cons of this: your players get tired.

But you must do this to prevent the defence splitting pass that Iniesta and Xavi are more than capable of producing. Perhaps the one that takes his time the most for Barcelona is in fact Sergio Busquets, their midfield hardman.

The key idea we had was to pile the pressure on their defenders and not allow them to bring the ball out of the back.
Manolo Jiménez; Beat Barcelona 2-1 on 5 January 2010 with Sevilla
Step 3: The Attack
Against Barcelona, the key thing that I would exploit as a manager is the wings. Reason being Abidal is too slow to keep up with pacey wingers, and Daniel Alves often ventures way too far out to aid the attacking front.

Second reason: Puyol and Pique aren't what I call the fastest players around either. During Spain's inconsistent short run after the World Cup, it's because people realized that they weren't as colossal as they seemed, that their speed was a strong flaw in their game.

You want someone who's a good finisher and a good header in there. That's how you can break down the Barcelona defence. And if you look back at several tapes, most crucial goals scored against Barcelona are in fact started/finished or even both on the LEFT WING.

Daniel Alves is the player you want to exploit. 

So you guys got anymore ideas on how to stop the rampaging champions of Europe. Straight to the comments section below!

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Chelsea FC Article: It's Raining MONEY!

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So as the transfer window comes closer and closer, we here at YouPassYouShoot will try and predict what is to happen regarding Chelsea's transfer activity this summer.

Who are they interested in?
Well, bad questions deserve bad answers, because for this, you could say just about everyone..... except Emile Heskey. With Abramovic's seemingly unlimited amount of cash rolling in for the Blues, it simply is no surprise that the transfer rumour mill is always full of lots of potential big money moves that they are going to make in the summer. Let me tell you several of the most ridiculous transfer rumours:

  1. Neymar for 41 million (what type of stupid, ridiculous fool would pay such a sum for an unproven player?)
  2. Kaka for Who Knows How Much (Off form, lots of cash, the move doesn't make sense)
  3. Javier Pastore for 50 million (need I go into the fee nonsense?)
Abramovic is King
There is only ever one man in charge at the Bridge, and that is Roman Abramovic. The fans don't have a say, even the manager doesn't get much of a say, because it is all him. Who fired Ray Wilkins, which destroyed the morale of the team? Who triggered the managerial merry-go-round by firing Jose Mourinho? It all points to the Russian billionaire.

Plus, the way he kicked Ancelotti out was horrible, giving him the news at the Chelsea tunnel, now that's cold. And you also can't forget that he went behind the Italian's back to negotiate a move for Santos' very own Brazilian striker-come-winger Neymar secretly.

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Can Gibson and Co. Take The Mantle At OT?

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Since today is Manchester United topic day, I decided to make the subject be about Gibson, Fabio and the youthful crop of players that are coming through at Manchester United

With Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville (whom already has retired) and Edwin Van der Sar retiring really soon, the question remains whether the next generation of talent that is making it's way through Manchester United ranks can actually make it as top class players.

Perhaps Darren Gibson is he biggest enigma here, with him having a wonderful shot and rather secure passing, with his only problem being that  he shoots way too often. He shoots too early and Manchester United have lost the ball on many occasions due to Gibson's antics. That's even why he was abused out of Twitter just several months ago.

Another player that might or might not make it is goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard. Apparently, he was compared to Manchester United's former keeper Peter Schmeichel, and the fact that he was a compatriot of his perhaps made it even more significant. But the way it is looking to turn out, it doesn't seem like he will even get a chance at the first XI place.

But on a positive note, Fabio Da Silva has already broken into the first team and has managed to make the right back slot his own, even though he is naturally a left-back. Da Silva combines lots of pace down the wings with his ability to go in for a hard tackle to steal the ball away from opponents, therefore making him a big asset for Manchester United.

It seems that most of their youth players, however, are simply not going to cut it at Manchester United standards, and by looking at what they're trying to do this transfer season, it certainly seems like that. Ferguson isn't going to put his faith on the youngsters and that's why he has gone out and made some moves for players such as De Gea, Nasri and Modric.

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