Arsenal sign Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell

Posted: August 13, 2011 by Balaji Ramamurthy in Barclays Premier League, Football
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  Balaji Ramamurthy

  Editor – Football, The CouchExpert

  August 13, 2011

Arsenal have announced the signing of Costa Rica’s teenage striker Joel Campbell. The fee and contract details are unknown as of now but most believe it to be around the £1m region. The forward will most probably be loaned out in order to gain his work permit, according to many sources. But I do not have any concrete confirmation on that front. The signing of another unproven “prodigy” comes at a time when the club have their star midfielders Cesc Fabregas (done deal according to reports) and Samir Nasri loitering around the exit doors.

New gun: Joel Campbell arrives at Arsenal

Campbell arrives from Deportivo Saprissa S.A.D., a highly successful Costa Rican top flight club. He has just played a couple of games for them before being loaned out to Puntarenas F.C., another Costa Rican club. Here again he has played a handful of games. He has no goals to his name at either club at top level in the few games he has under his belt for the duo. Where Joel Campbell has really shown his ability as a lethal striker is at the international level. He has netted 18 times in 27 games for the national team (National, U17 and U20 combined). He was the team’s highest scorer at the 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship with 2 goals. He also struck 6 times at the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship to end up being the tournament’s top scorer. This is again another Arsene Wenger “signing for the future”. I do not see Campbell coming into the first team this season regardless of the work permit issue. And on the striking front Arsenal are in the same position as before – lose RVP to an injury and who scores? And given Chamakh’s poor form we really need to hold on to Nicklas Bendtner. This “signing for the future” is going to do nothing to placate the frustrated Arsenal fans and especially so when Fabregas and Nasri are on the verge of leaving when the new football season is almost upon us.

Arsene Wenger had his press meet yesterday where he mentioned the team having the strength in numbers and depth and that no one is leaving the club.  I had a nice chuckle, but felt sad. It was a show of defiance and Arsene was just trying his best to keep the team morale at acceptable levels ahead of today’s kickoff at St. James’ Park. But the real situation at the Emirates is far from settled as the heart of the midfield is about to be ripped in a few days. Though the Arsenal fans see Wenger’s ploy of keeping the team morale high, they are equally frustrated and angry at the situation the club is in. The fans are not angry about Cesc or Nasri leaving. The fans are angry simply because this is not the situation any team enters the kickoff day for a new season in. Arsenal’s game is on today but the fans do not know who the captain for the season is going to be. Enough said! It is not that fans cannot understand players leaving, Arsene. They are dejected simply because none of this was handled properly at all. We had a solid couple of months to make key decisions, strengthen and settle in nicely but we have a mess on the day of the new season. The impending star departures could have been handled in a swift, decisive way and an equal show of ambition could have been displayed in the transfer market as well. Instead too much time has been wasted thinking and negotiating. Arsenal fans would have be a far more satisfied lot with swift decisions and a couple of signings rather than star players leaving after the season begins. There are a further two weeks left in the transfer window and I hope Arsene fixes this ridiculous mess. Till then we just have to pray that Arsenal are able to qualify for Europe and survive league clashes against Liverpool and Manchester United with a team as unsettled as this.

Predict and win! – English Premier League 2011-12

Posted: August 13, 2011 by Balaji Ramamurthy in Barclays Premier League, Football
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 Balaji Ramamurthy

 Editor – Football, The CouchExpert

 August 13, 2011

 

So finally it all starts again! The English Premier League kicks off today and barring the Tottenham vs Everton game (thanks to the idiot rioters), all remaining fixtures are on. I plan to make this a regular column for the English Premier League. No in-depth analysis nothing, just pure fun predicting results on match-day. And you guys can join the fun using the comments section for your predictions. Just copy paste mine and change the scoreline to your prediction. We’ll play week by week. And here we’re going to cover the games on Saturday, Sunday and the lone mid-week game on Tuesday.

Points system:

1. A correct prediction (correct result regardless of the scoreline predicted) = 1 point.

2. An exact god-like scoreline prediction = 3 points.

3. A wrong one = 0.

Please join in! More the people, more fun we have and a mini prediction league of our own! The winner based on cumulative points accrued over the entire English top flight season will win something neat. Well if I win (I’m playing mind games already!) the prize goes to whoever finishes second, else it obviously goes to the winner 🙂

So here we go! Mine first. And yes the home team comes first in every listing.

Saturday

1.  Blackburn vs Wolverhampton: 2-1

2. Fulham vs Aston Villa: 1-1

3. Liverpool vs Sunderland: 2-0

4. QPR vs Bolton Wanderers: 1-1

5. Wigan vs Norwich City: 2-2

6. Newcastle vs Arsenal: 1-2

Sunday

1. Stoke City vs Chelsea: 1-2

2. West Brom vs Man United: 1-2

Tuesday

1. Man City vs Swansea: 3-0

So keep them coming in! Use the comments section to post your entries. The prediction league table will be displayed on the same predictions post next week. Good luck! Comments with predictions (for Sat, Sun and Tue) coming in after the first kickoff at 15:00 GMT today will not be eligible.

Day 3 Edgbaston: Alastair Cook’s Near Triple Ton Punishes India

Posted: August 13, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
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 Goutham Chakravarthi

 13 August 2011


The wonderful former deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer, Emma John, would have described Alastair Cook’s innings something on the lines of “mulishness, obduracy, bloody-mindedness.” And a very tired Indian side would be thanking their stars that this wasn’t a timeless Test in which case you could switch on your TV sets a week later and you would still find Cook batting.

Alastair Cook displayed enormous concentration in his marathon knock

They say cussedness is a quality much admired in a Test cricketer. His strength of mind and discipline in executing his brand of batting has made him into a remarkable accumulator of runs. Rahul Dravid, a man who is renowned for grit, determination and stone walling would much appreciate the qualities he sees in Cook. Chandepaul, Steve Waugh would approve of Cook. Heck, even Geoffrey Boycott would have had a crush on him today!

India’s docile bowling never looked like getting an English wicket at any time. That they managed to reign the scoring of the English batsmen with Cook only scoring three boundaries till tea suggested that they at least bowled to their plans. There was still a bit in the wicket for the bowlers when they got it right, but Cook’s insatiable appetite for accumulating runs coupled with his determination to play long hours in turn ensured that he and England crossed many milestones in the day – the highest individual score at Edgbaston and England’s highest score in an innings in a non-timeless Test – being just two of them.

If stodge and defiance described Cook’s innings, Morgan was more fluent and ensured that he made the most of the reprieves given to him by the Indian fielders on Thursday. To the calm, determined, predictable methods of Cook at the other end, Morgan was the modern-day young batsman – unorthodox, skillful and improvising. Between the two of them and Ian Bell, one would think England will see a lot of runs being scored for them. Morgan went trying to loft Raina over Sehwag in the covers and his dismissal ensured India kept England batting for longer than they would have wanted.

Eoin Morgan made the most of his two reprieves with a hundred

India on the other hand looked surprisingly better with the ball and in the field. There was better execution of plans though they never looked like getting Cook or Morgan out. They might as well have sent a bowling machine to the middle to bowl to them and nothing would have changed. Knowing fully well that England would run them ragged, they did their best to not let England get away. Their lack of potency has been a great matter of concern for the captain. It has again only shown how much Zaheer Khan means to this team.

England have had another outstanding day. With Sehwag lasting all of two balls in two innings, it has put to rest all theories of him perhaps being the saviour at least for this Test. England have again exposed another cricketer being rushed back into top flight cricket with little match practice. May be there is a lesson in it to players as much as to administrators.

There is plenty of time in this Test and the ball still moved a bit under overcast conditions for the English quicks. With the wicket now also keeping low sporadically, and with Swann and Pietersen getting it to spin big, it is but a matter of time before time is up for India in this Test.

India will hope to put their best batting display of the tour in its second innings. They have collectively not scored 294 in any of their innings. It has been Cook’s Test so far. India will do well to make England and Cook bat again in this Test.

Stan Kroenke vs Arsene Wenger battle rap

Posted: August 12, 2011 by Balaji Ramamurthy in Barclays Premier League, Football
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          Balaji Ramamurthy

          Editor – Football, The CouchExpert

          August 12, 2011

This was too hilarious and had to find its way here. A light satire on the situation at Arsenal. Sure you do have your serious moments with the team you love or hate. But sometimes we need to chill and look at the lighter funny side of life 🙂

All credits go to Mr. GilbertoSilver. For all the diehard Arsenal fans, he is better known as the author of Gunnerblog

And kudos to the good spirited Arsenal fans world over who can see the humor and appreciate good comedy.

Day 2 Edgbaston: Alastair cooks up Ton as India’s woes persist

Posted: August 12, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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 Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, CouchExpert

12 August 2011

It will be hard to put a smile on the face of an Indian fan these days. The tour to England, thus far, has exposed flaws that would, to an ardent fan, make even the disastrous regime of the Indian National Congress seem pardonable – a sign that usually announces the arrival of very hard times to come.

As bowling strength dried up, and fielding slipped in to recession, a series provocative enough to the visitors appeared as scary to the Indian fan as the riots that have taken over the streets of England. In order to build credibility, henceforth, with an already skeptical public, a major reform in performance is what would have to be targeted. Sadly, the reform refers more to better cricket than anything else around.

Against an attack that seemed to lack both ownership and leadership, talks over the struggling forms of the English openers were put to rest as Strauss and Cook relished the red delicacies that were thrown their way. The opening surge shed light into the mythic power of the English unit’s rapid rise to the top, ever since the advent of the Ashes triumph down under.

Dhoni had acknowledged the prevailing skepticism by building accountability in to some of his causes for failure – injuries and workload. While the former was given a nod by some, the latter was rubbished. With Sreesanth struggling against southpaws, Praveen – intelligent and hardworking – but just not quick enough to trouble the batsmen, and Ishanth not consistent enough, Dhoni couldn’t but embody that popular Indian myth that with the lack of a departmental leader, the unit is virtually clueless.

Cook just needs three more hundreds to equal English record holder Wally Hammond's 22 hundreds in Test Cricket. © AFP

It simply wasn’t one of those days an Indian fan would want to remember: the bowling appeared to be fragile, and fielding slender – one really can’t do much but shrug when the man with a record catches in Test Cricket drops two sitters at slip.

While the Indians seemed to fluctuate between the conundrums of lack of ideas and butterfingers, the English batsmen cashed in to take an insurmountable lead with the back-in-form Cook notching up his 19th ton, three away from topping the centurions chart among English batsmen. It is hard to believe that he isn’t 27 yet.

It took a no ball from Mishra, revealed later through video replays, to get Strauss out sweeping to a delivery that he ideally wouldn’t have on another day. Bell, after being dropped by Dravid at first slip, fell to Praveen Kumar, who seemed the only Indian bowler capable of taking wickets.

That Kevin Pietersen blazed past his half-century at almost run-a-ball, and at times striking at a higher rate, pretty much summed up the Indian attack’s lack of aggression, and ideas, on a day that surely has been the nadir of the series so far. The Indian woes just seemed to add up, like Amit Mishra’s no balls in test cricket.

At present, the argument against the Indian bowling is obvious: the unit is as oblivious to the environment as the current Indian government is to scams and threats. The unit is deflating at the rate at which prices are inflating in their homeland. But at least with the current Indian cricketing setup, there is a little bit of hope that soon enough, the scenario will move the grey clouds away to witness a clear blue sky.

Hope is the only energy source to which the Indian fan can cling on to.

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